Gourishankar Soni

This painting introduces a new register of joy, rhythm, and celebration into the unfolding series. At its centre, a lone figure — a folk musician — sits animatedly, clutching and playing a large circular drum. His body language, leaning into the instrument with a smile across his face, conveys an unrestrained vitality, as though he is carried away by the rhythm he produces.
The background is a rich teal field, against which golden, map-like textures sprawl. These golden overlays recall earlier works in the series where tradition, myth, or memory seeped into the present — here, however, instead of grounding the figure in ritual or labour, they seem to radiate outward like sound waves, visual echoes of music spreading through space. The drum itself, perfectly circular, becomes a symbol of both rhythm and wholeness — a counterpoint to the fragmented, faceless, or entangled human forms we saw earlier.
Unlike the headless meditation of GSS_05 or the entrapment of GSS_04, this composition feels liberated. The performer is not passive, nor dissolved; he is alive, embodied, and expressive. The musical act becomes resistance as well as celebration: a way of asserting presence, joy, and collective spirit amidst the weight of history.