Love of all kinds

The European style cafe with its white-washed walls, perched on a slightly elevated point, provides the ideal backdrop for the neon art installations.

HYDERABAD : Gender is irrelevant, labels are for drinks’ – says one of the signs at the Art Bar in Le Vantage Cafe Bar, which encapsulates the theme of love without boundaries showcased through eye-catching installations around the cafe. The Art Bar is a collaboration between Absolut Vodka and Hyderabad-based artists Hoozinc (Chandni Mathur and Nikhil Kapur). They have incorporated the five core beliefs of Absolut into different elements spread across the venue.

The European style cafe with its white-washed walls, perched on a slightly elevated point, provides the ideal backdrop for the neon art installations. The open space with outdoor seating at the entrance of the cafe accommodates two art installations. There is a graffiti corner too where visitors can create their own art through spray paints. The art works also provide the perfect backdrop for those Instagram pictures.

At the launch of the Art Bar at Jubilee Hills recently, the guests were high on food, drinks and art, and the excitement was palpable among the crowd. Music producer Arman Menzies, popularly known  as Zokhuma, who was in charge of the DJ console, had the guests grooving in no time.

Speaking about the idea behind the installations, the artists say: “The concept, Art in Progress, is a retrospect of the future of art. We believe that art has the power to change the world,  liberate the soul, provoke imagination and encourage people to go further. The idea was to introduce the crowd to what the future of art could be. It took us a week to come up with these concepts.”

“We decided to project this artwork as a backdrop to the DJ console. The artwork consisted of TV screens displaying different imagery and forms of expressing love of all kinds. We chose TV screens to normalize the idea of love, of course in a very abstract form,” says Hoozinc.

Stressing on how art can help the society be more accepting of the LGBT community, the artist pair says: “The main thing about art is that it is free of boundaries and limitations and that is exactly what love is about. Incorporating such issues that need attention can really go a long way towards bringing out a change in people’s mindsets. This is even more so in the case of street art, which reaches a much larger audience. When an artist voices issues in their artwork, it evokes a thought in the viewer’s mind, and that thought is most important. One must be engaged to think about issues, only then can these issues be accepted.

The five installations 
at the venue are:
Shades of Humanity: Showcasing global unity The artwork is made of seven pillars and comprises a painting of four different ethnicities forming one face. 
Revival: Showcasing sustainability
This installation showcases the word revive made out of scrap materials. “We still have time to revive our planet, but we must act now,” say the artist duo. 
Mute: A staircase showcasing the concept of free speech
Free speech is the basic right of all human beings. The artists scribbled words and statements on the staircase as a representation of their views, ideologies and thoughts. 
State of Equal: A neon sign, showcasing gender equality. 
Lovers gonna love: The DJ backdrop, showcasing freedom to love who you want.