USask graduate student’s exhibition explores community and identity

Cultural heritage, community, identity, and collective effort are key themes in Bahōn (বাহন), a new exhibition featuring artworks created by University of Saskatchewan alumna and current graduate student Atrayee Basu (CEAP’19, BFA’24).

Basu, an interdisciplinary artist who was born in India and is now based in Saskatchewan, explores life, relationships, belonging, memory, and connection to land, culture, and community through her work. Bahōn (বাহন) marks a major milestone toward completing her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree at the School for the Arts at USask’s College of Arts and Science.

Basu said she felt supported at USask while working on her MFA and while previously earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in studio art, with high honours, in 2024.

“My USask community, it’s just an amazing community,” she said. “My artistic community here in Saskatchewan, it’s a huge community and people support each other so much—which makes it great.”

Basu’s exhibition, Bahōn, is named after a Bengali word, বাহন, which Basu said doesn’t correlate to a single English word that conveys its meaning. In general, bahōn is a vehicle for transport, while allegorically it is a medium that carries and in Hindu mythology it is a mount that forms a complex psychological concept, she said.

“My research applies auto-ethnographic artistic methods in which I serve as a bahōn for carrying tradition and cultural heritage,” Basu wrote in an artist’s statement for her show. “This research explores the infrastructures of care and belonging, where both contemporary and traditional materials serve as a visual story. Through my investigations, I have come to understand that a sense of belonging is maintained through repetition, collective effort, and recognition. It is a continuous practice rather than a singular achievement.”

Basu said her MFA exhibition explores numerous questions, including: How has community identity endured in a foreign land? What are the concealed strengths that play a pivotal role in fostering relationships within and outside the community? What is the significance of preserving roots, reinforcing community bonds, and helping future generations understand their heritage as they grow up in Canada? How do artistic practices that include folk art, symbolism, sculptural forms, and raw materials become integral to cultural practices?

“Lastly, the exhibition articulates confidence and poise in the construction of collective strength as both a material process and a spiritual and emotional act that links community, memory, and the formation of belonging,” Basu wrote in the description of her exhibition.

Bahōn (বাহন) features a photo essay as well as a series of mixed-media sculptures—or structures, as Basu refers to them—that “represent various stages of community formation, from a fragile group to an identified group to a group that wants to carry its roots for generations to come.” Some of the structures are comprised of natural materials positioned alongside common modern-day human-created materials, such as plastic. The juxtaposition of plastic boxes with natural materials, such as a straw, represents preservation, and the past combining with the present; meanwhile, a nearby structure created from handmade paper, spices, and red ties represents community building. In that structure, the individual paper rolls are not bound together, so they can collapse or disperse at any time; however, each paper roll builds and strengthens the overall structure, as individuals do within a community. Within a community, as within the sculpture, there is also unseen support of one another, Basu said.

“Sometimes, as a community, you can disperse and then your community just disappears. Or you can build yourselves up with other people, too,” she said.

Further into the gallery, an artwork titled Ekchala celebrates togetherness, care, and interdependence. Ekchala is a Bengali word, with “Ek” meaning one and “Chala” meaning roof or frame, said Basu. On the floor, below the frame, Basu used acrylic paint to create an Alpona, a folk-art form that symbolizes a divine welcome and cosmic energy. In India, an Alpona is traditionally created with a mixture of rice powder and zinc oxide as a liquid medium, Basu said, and the line drawing on the floor in the gallery honours Basu’s heritage.

Around the frame, Basu also placed lumen prints—a traditional process of creating photos without a camera by placing objects directly onto photo paper. “In this process of image making where I collaborate with sunlight, time, and chemicals, the goal is not a perfect image but understanding the process through collaboration,” she said.

For the lumen prints, Basu used natural pigments and dried flowers that reacted with the photo paper under sunlight. The flowers came from the land on which Basu currently resides—Treaty Six Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. The work represents Basu’s present and her past, and her two home communities.

“My connection to this land, my connection to back home—they’re all together,” Basu said. “So, again, (this represents) the feeling of togetherness as a community.”

About 15 years ago, Basu and her husband, Dr. Supratim Ghosh (PhD), a professor in USask’s College of Agriculture and Bioresources, moved to Saskatoon with their young daughter after living in the U.S. and in Toronto, Ont. While Basu had previously worked in graphic design and digital advertising in India, she had always wanted to explore other ways to create art, and USask’s studio art program appealed to her.

When her daughter began Grade 1, Basu decided to realize her dream by completing the University of Saskatchewan Certificate of Art and Design (USCAD) before enrolling in the BFA program. Today Basu’s daughter is in Grade 11, and, throughout the years, Basu has made many connections within the local art community. After completing her BFA at USask, she was encouraged by others to continue her education and to pursue her MFA.

“The USask community’s always great. I loved it here,” she said.

As an MFA student, Basu had the opportunity to teach undergraduate students. It was an experience that she truly valued and it represented her journey at USask coming full circle. Now that she’s completed her MFA exhibition, Basu doesn’t know what the next chapter of her life will bring—but she knows that art, and USask, will continue to be a big part of it. Studying at USask and exploring new ways to create art was the right choice for her.

“I’m glad that I changed my path,” she said.

 Basu now encourages others to consider enrolling in the studio art program at USask. She noted that USask art students are fortunate to experience a wood shop, a metal shop, painting, sculpture, photography, and more.

“It’s amazing. As a student, you have all those hands-on experiences,” she said.

Bahōn (বাহন), which opened on Sept. 9, runs until Sept. 18 at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery on USask’s Saskatoon campus. A public reception with light refreshments will be held from 5 pm to 9 pm on Sept. 18.