1646 is happy to announce that from the annual Residency open call, artist Ketaki Sarpotdar and her project 'Under the shadow' were selected! Ketaki will be joining 1646 in The Hague for a working period from August to October 2023.

For her residency in The Hague, Ketaki will work on her ongoing graphic book project Under the shadow. The project sprouts from Covid 19 experiences, where Ketaki investigates how the unexpected arrival and slow-spreading of the pandemic, along with lack of knowledge in navigating through such unprecedented times, brought forth hidden thoughts, opinions and emotions. The book delves into this array of human conditions and dispositions to understand human psychology.

In The Hague, Ketaki will study the collection of cartoons from the 1918 influenza pandemic period, which are kept in the Library of the Dutch House of Representatives, amongst approximately 5000 other political cartoons. It’s a collection that has hardly been used before, but gives a unique insight into Dutch politics and the citizens’ experience of politics from the late nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century.

“This concept of a political cartoon collection in the House of Representatives itself is astonishing and exciting for me because in India, where I come from, such art is very difficult to be preserved in a government institution due to its politically loaded contents.” — Ketaki Sarpotdar

Ketaki is interested in researching society’s struggles with misinformation and the public reaction to socio-political unrest caused by crises. Her research shows relevance in how the political themes of a century ago are still relevant today, and can be discussed in current politics.