Yahel Chirinian is a French

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

sculptor and installation artist who lives and works in India. She opened the avant-garde Monsoon Heritage Studio in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

in 2002 and won the "Goan of the Year" Award in the Arts and Culture category from

Lokmat ''Lokmat'' ( ) is a Marathi-language newspaper published in Maharashtra, India. Founded in 1971 by Jawaharlal Darda, it is the largest read Marathi-language newspaper in India. and has presence in print, digital, TV and events.Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

(France), where she discovered the world of

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of Concert dance, dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly stron ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and the

arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creativity, creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive ...

. She won a scholarship to attend Immaculee Conception boarding school in

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

, and later earned admission to the École supérieure d'art d'Avignon and won a grant at the

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. After studying

plastic arts Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, she specialized in

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

and conceptual art installations. She settled in Goa (

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) in 2002, where she continues her artistic career through her studio, Monsoon Heritage.

The Monsoon Heritage Studio

Chirinian's work reappropriates

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

sacred icons as well as classic symbols from western art. The artist chooses to represent gods from the Hindu pantheon including

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

and

Ganesh Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped Deva (Hinduism), deities in the Hindu deities, Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions ...

, so as other personalities like

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

sadhu ''Sadhu'' (, IAST: ' (male), ''sādhvī'' or ''sādhvīne'' (female), also spelled ''saddhu'') is a religious ascetic, mendicant or any holy person in Hinduism and Jainism who has renounced the worldly life. They are sometimes alternatively ...

's skulls. Her works take the form of sculpture, to which she affixes shards of mirror glass. She cites

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

as a major influence, particularly his relationship to the truth and appearances and his perception of the world. At Monsoon Heritage, Chirinian works with a team of female assistants, hiring women from difficult family and social backgrounds. The studio provides installations for international private collections and

art galleries An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

. Chirinian's work also can be found in luxury hotels in India such as the Park Hotel from

Kolkatta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary fin ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

and Goa, and the Taj Hotels. Journalist Karen Lajon, from the “

Le journal du dimanche ''Le Journal du Dimanche'' (; ), also known as the JDD , is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France. JDD was bought in 2023 by Vivendi of media mogul Vincent Bolloré, triggering a strike movement against the new editorial s ...

“ once asserted ''"The sculptures of Ganesh have found their place. Whether it is among Indian politicians or Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities, the iconic centerpiece of Yahel Chirinian is now a part of the Indian Artistic heritage.” '' The National Center of Plastic Arts (''“Le Centre national des arts plastiques”'') describes Chirinian's art as ''“halfway between holy object and decoration object �� her art makes flirt design and art, pop and baroque, sacred and sacrilege”''.

List of exhibitions and installations

• May 2013: "The Park Hotel" - Goa (Hospitality) • March 2012: "Neemrana's Ishavilas" - Goa (Hospitality) • November - December 2010: ''Sadhu pop, vanitas vanitatum''- Paris (Art Gallery) • January – February 2010: ''If I can't dance'' tonight – Bruxelles (Art gallery) • May 2008: "The Park Hotel, Aura Spa" -

(Hospitality)

Distinction

Chirinian received the award of "Best Artist and Contribution to Art" of the year 2016, in the category Art and Culture. She is the first artist to achieve artistic distinction in India as a woman and a foreigner.

References

"Yahel Chirinian"
Monsoon Heritage (Press release). 2 May 2005. via Prweb.com. * Vanduffel, Elisabeth (12 June 2008)

Thesublimeagency.blogspot.com. * Arnold, Beth (26 November 2010)

''The Huffington Post''. * Sangghvi, Malavika (11 June 2012)

Mid-Day. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chirinian, Yahel 1970 births Living people French contemporary artists Artists from Avignon 21st-century French women artists