Ali Rahamad - Senses of Malaysia January 2012

Scents of India

There is radiant splendour and vibrant beauty to India which Rafiee Ghani captures well in his latest exhibition – Perfumed Gardens, at Galeri Chandan, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur.          
   Amidst russet forts, towering minarets, eggshell blue skies and the vermillion of northern saris, there is the vivid perfumed romance of all that is rich and stunning about Rafiee’s India.

   Though the title ‘Perfumed Gardens’ is perhaps best known from Sir Richard Francis Burton’s translation of the Arabic erotic manual, it suits the vibrancy of Rafiee’s exhibition well. The wandering visitor to Galeri Chandan becomes ‘perfumed’ with colour exuding from canvases and watercolour papers throughout Rafiee’s stunning display. Those rich, lively, visual, aromas permeate consciousness in an almost subliminal way, leaving the visitor heady, intoxicated by their sheer beauty.

   As you might expect - vermillion, cardinal, crimson, cerise – the colours of India, dance and swirl from Rafiee’s paintings, often counterbalanced by walls of blue, or simple Indian skies. Red in all its facets presents as the bonding colour, uniting works throughout the well-spaced gallery. Galeri Chandan’s unique architecture only enhances the exhibition. The visitor is allowed a certain voyeurism when peeking through arches, around corners, down staircases – like the small children we all secretly are, excited at the next find in the treasure trail of that Perfumed Garden.

   And it is an excitement. The journey that Galerie Chandan and Rafiee Ghani take us on is a journey of spills and trills, a secret journey bound in symbolism, closeness and distance, a voyage of re-discovery, root finding and whole-making. India has that effect. Once sampled it is never forgotten. Be it the bounce and brashness of Bollywood, or the dank misery of Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay, India gets into the blood like an incurable virus, forges love/hate but it is never forgotten. Like Rafiee’s paintings, India always calls, sometimes we heed that call, sometimes we simply listen and reflect, surround ourselves with its hues and scents and recall the heat, the passion, and the perfumes which linger in oh so many gardens.

Perfumed Gardens - an exhibition by Rafiee Ghani; at Galeri Chandan, Bukit Damansara, 9^th January – 3^rd February 2012.