"women can do anything and reach anywhere"
Indian artist Sonal Relekar-Ramnath has made history as her painting is set to go to the moon, a first for an Indian artist.
Her work is titled ‘Sisterhood’ and it is a part of The Peregrine Collection.
The painting will be carried in a time capsule aboard the Astrobotic Peregrine Lunar Lander.
The lander is scheduled to be sent to the moon in July 2021.
Sonal regarded the experience as a miracle. She said:
“When I started painting ‘Sisterhood’, I never imagined that it would go to the moon, literally.”
Sonal holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the Academy of Art Univerity, San Francisco, USA. She is based in Mumbai.
Sonal’s artwork ‘Sisterhood‘ was exhibited in 2020 in an international exhibition called ‘Storytellers’.
The Indian artist’s painting was exhibited along with other international artists from around the globe.
Describing the painting, Sonal said: “I stand for liberation and so does my art.”
Ramnath added that the concept of ‘Sisterhood’ was born after watching her daughter and 17-year-old niece braiding each other’s hair, chatting and laughing, having a good time.
The ‘Storytellers’ Exhibition was held in Melbourne, Australia, curated by Elaine Schmidt and Flinders Lane Gallery.
It was in collaboration with US-based Poets and Artists collective headed by Didi Menendez.
Indian artist Sonal’s painting will be among thousands of paintings by 1,200 artists that are going to the moon.
Explaining her painting, the Indian artist added:
“I have attempted to show that women can do anything and reach anywhere, and what better place than the moon.”
Dr Samuel Peralta is coordinating the Artists on the Moon (AOTM) project.
Dr Peralta, a physicist, and entrepreneur is also a bestselling fiction writer.
This project’s goal is to leave a capsule for future lunar travellers to appreciate the earth’s art.
Talking about the project, Dr Peralta said:
“Our hope is that; future travellers who find this capsule will discover some of the richness of our world today.”
“It speaks to the idea that, despite wars and pandemic and climate upheaval, humankind found time to dream, time to create art.”
Peralta has also added 21 volumes of his own future Chronicles anthologies to the project.
The time capsule will also be holding all Amazon bestsellers and 15 PoetsArtists’ art magazines.
Novels, music, screenplays, short films, contemporary art, and short stories will also be part of the project.
All this work will be included in the capsule in a digitised form.
Two microSD cards will hold all the digitised data and will be encapsulated in the DHL MoonBox Capsules.
The lander will touch down in the Lacus Mortis region of the moon and this will mark as the first mission to carry commercial payloads to the surface of the moon.