Visual artist Nirmal Mondal holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in fine arts. Her practice focuses on history, personal narratives and the intricate intersection of craft and contemporary artistic expression. Her work pays tribute to a fading heritage, often using local materials to anchor abstract concepts in a sense of place, capturing the silent trauma of cultural loss.

The installation, “Eye of the Journey”, focuses its narrative on the fragile terracotta heritage of Murshidabad, which faces ruin due to neglect and the lasting effects of the Partition of Bengal. He utilizes terracotta and documentary video elements to deliberately capture the tension between the rich memory of the past and the harsh reality of the present, using clay sourced directly from the local riverbed.

The artist personally connects to this as a reflection on the urgency of preserving heritage. The takeaway for the audience is to recognize that cultural heritage is not abstract but tangible and that the decay of a structure represents the decay of a communal identity, urging reflection on the preservation of local history.