Art News: Building Bridges at Gallery Sumukha

‘Building Bridges’ at Gallery Sumukha is an international project conceived by Ushmita Sahu in collaboration with Emergent Art Space (San Francisco). The project was conceived to unfold over a period of one year from March 2017 to March 2018 in various stages with an open call for submissions from individual freelance artists of up to 30 years in age, working in video, photography, performance and sound art genres from across the world. 

The unique angle to the project is that it was conceived, curated and executed via the virtual platform. None of the artists, the curator or the sponsors had ever met physically. All communication has been conducted over the internet. After artist’s selection, in the month of October 2017, EAS & the curator conducted a closed community blog as an intrinsic part of the project, which was hosted by Emergent Art on their website.

The aim of the blog was to foster exchange and to facilitate a deeper understanding and knowledge of the other, to create a dialogical process aimed at encouraging and exchanging thoughts, ideas, images and texts about their works and their experiences, getting to know each other, exploring the others’ worlds, the ones similar as well as those more distant, for background, experience, country and culture. The underlying intent was to look beyond stereotypes and build lasting bridges between differences and distant points. The blog saw regular posts and interaction by the artists on various concerns and topics ranging from gender and body issues, to post colonial identity, transmigration and many more.

After the month long blogging process each artist created new works for a tri-city show in India (Kolkata in January, Delhi in February & Bangalore in March 2018). All the works created are of digital format – whether photography, video, book art, augmented reality & animation or sound works, each has been created keeping in mind that the sharing process is also virtual in nature. The curator has been in constant touch over the internet, guiding and mentoring the artists. All the finalized works were sent to her, whereupon she downloaded them and got them ready in their physical avatar for the live shows.

According to Sahu, “Taking inspiration from Newton’s adage - We build too many walls and not enough bridges, Project BUILDING BRIDGES has aimed to encourage 13 young artists from across the globe to come together and foster a voice of reason and dialogue that will help create a platform for empathy, and understanding through art, creativity and exchange.”


Project BUILDING BRIDGES continues at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore till 28th March 2018.

*press release

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Also read,

• Art News: apexart Open Call for Group Exhibitions 2018-19 
• 5 Reasons a Good Catalogue Text is Essential for Your Art
• How To Write An Artist Statement
• 6 Tips On How To Approach An Art Gallery And Find Gallery Representation
• Exhibiting Art in Non-Gallery Spaces
• Guide To Exhibiting Your Artworks
• How to Create an Online Presence 

Art News: Bangalore Art Scene

'The Unity of Opposites' by Tanya Mehta at Gallery Sumukha

 A nationally and internationally exhibiting artist, Tanya Mehta works with photography and New Mixed Media to realise her vision through technology. She explores the gaps between our different constructions of knowledge – philosophy, art, science, the metaphysical – and finds, in those gaps, bridges. She hopes to take the audience over those bridges to move to the singular reality or truth that exists for all of us. The key is the imagination.

‘Unity of Opposites’ aims to explore the differences between human perception and reality through an understanding of non-dual opposites. Using portals, circular imagery and various looping mediums to depict the infinity of the universe around us, we explore the narrowness of human perception through what we define as opposites but are, in reality, unified.

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NGMA Bangalore in collaboration with BFS invites you to the screening of the films Child as an idea and image in cinema from 25th June 2017 @ 5.00 PM

NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART BENGALURU

(Ministry of Culture, Government of India)

in collaboration with

Bangalore Film Society

invites you for

CHILD

as an idea and image in CINEMA

June 2017 screening of films 

All the films will start @5 pm. Entry is Free on first come first serve basis. All are invited!

Children are everywhere in films – the child as a figure, an idea, image, narrative - a contested site of symbolism, romanticisation and controversy. The child is an ambivalent figure flitting between endurance and despair, vulnerability and violence. 

The films in this series examine the world from the child’s perspective. Here we see children who are dealing with serious situation like death, poverty, war and oppression. The films offer unique insights into these tiny minds who are witnessing and at the receiving end of harsh realities of life.  

Sunday 25th June 2017 

Pather Panchali / Satyajit Ray / 1955 / Bengali / 112 minutes

Pather Panchali is an adaptation of a 1929 novel by Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay. It was the first part in what became known as the Apu Trilogy, charting the life journey of a young boy in rural Bengal. Lyrical and sensitively observed, Pather Panchali documents the hardships of peasant life and the sadnesses of time passing, but doesn’t stint on the wonders and excitement of youthful discovery.

Tuesday 27th June 2017 

Ivan’s Childhood / Andrei Tarkovsky / 1962 / Russian / 95 minutes

The debut feature by Andrei Tarkovsky, Ivan’s Childhood is a poetic journey through the shards and shadows of one boy’s war-ravaged youth. Moving back and forth between the traumatic realities of World War II and serene moments of family life before the conflict began, Tarkovsky’s film remains one of the most jarring and unforgettable depictions of the impact of war on children.

Wednesday 28th June 2017 

The Spirit of the Beehive / Víctor Erice / 1973 / Spanish / 97 minutes

The protagonist Ana lives in a small village that is showing Frankenstein for the first time. While Ana wonders endlessly about the monster’s intentions, she stumbles upon a wounded revolutionary soldier who is hiding in a barn. The soldier’s death at the hands of the Francoist police, and Ana’s father’s anger over the situation lead to a strange hallucination in which Ana meets Frankenstein’s monster in the woods. Erice’s film is not only a subtle examination of Franco’s power, but it also introduces us to Ana, a dark-eyed child whose powerful gaze represented both an inquisitive youth and a rebellious spirit. Ana examines the world through an escapist fantasy, which takes her away from the realities of war. She represents the innocent generation of Spain that was unaware of Franco’s power and oppression.

Thursday 29th June 2017 

The Apple / Samira Makhmalbaf / 1998 / Persian and Azerbaijani / 86 minutes

The story of twelve-year-old sisters who have been kept confined in their home by their strict religious father and blind mother, who believe exposing their daughters to the outside world will lead to their corruption. It’s a film perched on the line between fact and fiction. Not only is the situation described a real one, but each of the characters in the ‘story’ is played by their real-life counterparts. When social workers force the parents to allow their daughters out into the street, the film documents the two sisters’ tentative first impressions of an outside world that’s so long been denied to them. Directed by Samira Makhmalbaf at the age of only 17, this astonishingly mature first feature combines a swipe at an oppressive society with a joyous ode to awakening senses.

Friday 30th June 2017 

Kutty Japanin Kuzhandaigal (Children of Mini Japan) / Chalam Bennurakar /1990 / Tamil / 60 minutes 

This documentary is set in Sivakasi, a small town in Southern Tamil Nadu. It is from here and the surrounding villages that 70% of the requirements of the match box industry and 90% of the fireworks industry are produced. The owners of the match box and fireworks factories proudly refer to their town as “Mini Japan”, a self-employed town. This town also prints millions of garish calendars and election posters which are used all over India. Sivakasi has another dubious distinction. It is the single largest concentration of child labour in the world. Nearly 10,000 children, mostly girl children, are employed in Sivakasi to meet the demands of production. It is these children aged between 4 and 16 who are the protagonists of the film. The film is an attempt to portray their everyday lives, the production process and the complex socio-political reasons that contribute to such a large employment of children in this area.

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Ananya Drishya I Presentation by Amshu Chukki | 30th June 2017, Friday @ 6.00 pm | Venkatappa Art Gallery

Amshu Chukki's practice ranges from site-specific ephemeral installations to drawing, video and sculpture. In his ongoing engagements with the notion of fictionalized spaces and narratives of dystopias, he is interested in the manner in which the boundaries between the real and illusory can fold into one another, keeping in mind an understanding of the filmic and in particular, the tropes of film noir. Further, questioning the ideas of the 'site', 'site specificity' and 'site informativity', his work tries to invite and involve audiences to speculate on the meaning and nature of the fictionalized worlds brought to life.

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RELOOK [35] : Lectures on Indian Art

Curated by Pushpamala N.

The "People without History": Forms of Cultural Memory and the Post-Colonial Archivea lecture by
Indira Chowdhury
Scholar and Archivist, Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore

On Sunday 2 July 2017 at 6.30 pm
at 1.Shanthi Road Studio/ Gallery, First Floor,
Shanthinagar, Bangalore 560027

About the Talk

This presentation draws on my attempts over the last decade and a half to create archives of different institutions and organisations and the insights gained from these attempts into the practice of archiving. Echoing the title of Eric Wolf’s 1982 book, Europe and the People Without History (1983) and drawing on the conceptual framework of Edward Said’s Orientalism (1979), this presentation looks back at the colonial collections of archives and material culture in India and asks in what ways is it possible to put together an archive within a postcolonial context? If colonial discourse defined Indians as being steeped in backward traditions and lacking in history, what conceptual problems do we encounter when trying to assemble an archive of a formerly colonised people? Beginning with my visit to a settlement of snake charmers near Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, who claimed they knew nothing about snakes, I go on to look at the collection of botanical paintings at Lalbagh, and the subsequent setting up of the institutional archives of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, The Economic and Political Weekly and the Indian Museum. What does the process of archiving tell us about our relationship to the past? In what ways did institutions that originated in the colonial period reinvent their identities post-1947? How do the colonial foundations of academic disciplines shape the way our museums relate to the past? What roles do state interventions and notions of national identity play in the evolving sense of self? Do conceptualisations of education, development and progress erase forms of cultural memory and oral traditions and create reinvented identities? This presentation will attempt to show how we might re-understand the idea of collecting an archive and the critical ways in which we might interpret them.

Art News: Art Scene India Recommends

Art Scene India Recommends: 

Here's a round up of art exhibitions and events for you to visit - most of these are in Bangalore. Do visit them and let me know your views. Which ones resonated with you? Drop me a line here. I look forward to hearing from you.

Bengaluru 

June 21, 2016, Today


June 26, 2016, Sunday

Galerie Sara Arakkal presents Yusuf Arakkal's "FACES OF CREATIVITY", an exhibition of 135 Indian artists portrait with a Book launch.

Gallery Sumukha marks its 20th year since 1996 and celebrates with the opening of 'An Inner Retrospective'

Solo by K. Laxma Goud, with curatorial inputs from Marta Jakimowicz

‘The Limited Edition’ is an exhibition which pays homage to the art of printmaking. The exhibition consists of prints produced during a two week long printmaking workshop organized within the gallery space. The workshop brought together important pedagogies of Indian printmaking. Artists from Santiniketan, Baroda, Kheragarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mysore were part of the atelier.

 

Chennai

Want to cover art events for Art Scene India? Get in touch now at nalini.indianart@gmail.com

Also read,

• 10 Tips For Buying Art
• 6 Tips On How To Approach An Art Gallery And Find Gallery Representation
• Exhibiting Art in Non-Gallery Spaces
• Guide To Exhibiting Your Artworks
• How To Write An Artist Statement
• How to Create an Online Presence
• How to organize an art exhibition 

Art Buzz: Bangalore Art Scene, October, 2015

Here's what you can do this October - visit these art events in Bangalore. And don't forget to tell me which ones you liked the most.

K.K. Hebbar Art Foundation | Harvest Of Talents | Rangoli Metro Art Centre | Thursday 1st October 2015

 

NGMA Bengaluru

"Celebrating Gandhi" on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Saturday, 3rd October 2015 at 2.00 pm. The event includes drawing competition, sketching and doodling for children in the age group of 12-16 years. The theme of the event is 'Gandhi's Philosophy'.

 

Art Park on 4th Oct

 

"NIGHT FLOWERS", a solo exhibition by Tara Sabharwal, Gallery Sumukha

Artist Statement: My work, like my life, navigates through the real and the imagined. I am fascinated by the overlapping of time –how the time ‘present’, however physically real, incorporates both time past and the time to come. This continuous processing of time through memory and imagination is at the heart of my work. In recent paintings, the physicality of the real world recedes to make room for the incorporeal, allowing for an inherent multiplicity of experience.

Atul Padia and White Sanctum art gallery present an exhibition titled "108 Vinayaka 108 Kalavinayaka" - 4-7th Oct at White Sanctum Art Gallery

Ananya Drishya - October | Tara Sabharwal | 6 - October - 2015 at 6pm | Venkatappa Art Gallery

If you are organizing an art event and would like it to be listed here, send me a note well in advance. Include the evite (less than 100KB, jpg) which has all the details, 2-3 images (not more than 100KB, jpg, no phone camera photographs please), a caption that captures the essentials - What/Title, Who, When and Time/Duration. Mail it here.

Want to cover art events for Art Scene India? Drop me a line here

Art Talk: 'Recollections Reconnections' by Artist SG Vasudev

Heavy textures gouge out a terrain that is undulating and sinuous, mapping a visual narrative in SG Vasudev's recent works. 

 

I met the well-known artist SG Vasudev at the December ArtPark event at Ravindra Kalashetra, right before the opening of his solo show. The ArtPark is an initiative by the veteran artist to encourage interaction between artists and the general public in an informal environment, outside a gallery setting. It allows visitors to talk to artists, watch them draw and paint and even buy art directly from them. The lush green park with its tall trees, tucked in a secluded corner away from the bustling streets of Bangalore, forms a perfect setting to mingle with your friends and enjoy the art.

We discussed Vasudev’s upcoming show, ‘Recollections Reconnections’, Ananya Drishya - a monthly event where artists and other members present their work, and the possibility of a visual art festival in Bangalore. The driving force behind many public art initiatives in the city, Vasudev is an active crusader in his attempts to popularize art and to position Bangalore as a significant art destination. “We clearly need support from all quarters, and the government and corporates must come forward and encourage art and culture activities,” he passionately argues.

Vasudev’s latest series of paintings shows a perceptible shift from his earlier works. Heavy textures gouge out a terrain that is undulating and sinuous, mapping a visual narrative. The transformation is evident in his visual vocabulary with the granular and textural backdrop assuming greater significance.

The imagery has also undergone subtle changes, shelving the rigidity of the form and progressing towards the abstract. Similarly, the muted colour palette allows greater interplay with the topography, while the embellishments play out like musical notes. Animals, trees, human figures and other elements from his previous works are all there, but have evolved and morphed into figures and forms where their edges fade and amalgamate with their surroundings. A delightful rhapsody that plays out on canvas.

Interestingly, Vasudev first builds layers of white pigment on canvas to form a thick textural background, and then adds colours, only to remove it systematically from most areas. An avid music aficionado, SG Vasudev listens to music as he paints and he likens the process of his painting to the notes in music. “It is similar to the ‘Raga, Taana and Pallavi’ process in Carnatic music, when a ‘raga’ plays out, it is complete by itself. But, when ‘taana’ starts, it initiates another element and when that completes, ‘pallavi’ starts, which normally has verses and it completes the concert,” he explains. And, so for Vasudev, it is the removal of colours which completes the painting.

The exhibition continues till January 10 at Gallery Sumukha.

   
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Related posts,

• Art Park Bengaluru: Meet the Artists on July 6, 2014
• Review of SG Vasudev's Paintings

Review: ‘Crosstalk’ at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore

Art Review: ‘Crosstalk’ at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore, a group show by four artists Lokesh BH, Naveen Kumar A, Aishwaryan K and Mohan Kumar T

Yesterday, I visited ‘Crosstalk’ at Gallery Sumukha, which is a group show by four artists Lokesh BH, Naveen Kumar A, Aishwaryan K and Mohan Kumar T. For me, Lokesh was the unknown entity here as I had not seen his works earlier. The other three artists have shown their works in Bangalore, whereas Mohan Kumar was part of a show that I had conceptualized a while ago (it was later shelved). 

 

Crosstalk is intended to be “about the four artists’ personal attempts to grapple with contemporary living, and find their place in the larger scheme of things. Binding the body of works together are several common concepts, noticeable in the multiplicity of urban motifs, objects and attributes. However, each artist sees and underlines distinct elements in this constantly changing life-scape."

As an exploration of the self and survival, and the artist’s individual take on contemporary living, the works are diverse and present interesting perspectives. Mohan Kumar’s works are filled with satire and dry wit as they comment on social situations, which are commonly accepted and have become the norm, but can be comical and at times farcical. He is particularly adept at story telling through his drawings.
Aishwaryan transforms familiar materials and media into works which offer multiple possibilities of interpretation. These may represent objects of desire and aspiration, yet are fraught with artifice and may eventually be inconsequential. On a personal level, I could relate better to the two mixed media drawings.

 Lokesh’s works are autobiographical in nature and explore the consumerist culture and also human relationships, the former with a wry humour, while the latter is laced with sadness and confusion. About ‘Black Cycle’, he explains, “it represents my journey and life experiences during the period of my ‘Art education’. It was a phase fraught with confusion, in which the self underwent struggles that have been symbolized in this work.” Lokesh seems to present two distinct bodies of work here, perhaps from two different time periods. As a skilled and able artist embarking on his career, he could focus and elaborate on a single concept and allow it to grow organically – build layers into the narrative to make it more meaningful and coherent.

Naveen Kumar surprised me with his large work composed of miniature vignettes, a montage of mixed media drawings on pages of an art book. Compiling stories – tales from childhood, personal experiences and even popular expressions, the result is a delightful installation weaved out of ‘magical stories’ as the title suggests. The drawings have been rendered in minute detail and form a whimsical collection.

It's a good effort by this group of young artists and if you are in Bangalore, drop in at the show and let me know which of the works you liked.

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Jangarh Singh Shyam’s Legacy – Gond Art Continues to Thrive

A tribal art demonstration was organized at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore recently and it was a delight to see Jangarh Singh Shyam’s family members (his wife, Nankusia Shyam) and their associates diligently paint canvases and paper with Gond art.  Bright acrylic colours and meticulous detailing filled every inch of the space inside the outlined figures!

   Jangarh Singh Shyam – his Kalam

The Gond tribe is one of the largest Adivasi communities in India and they inhabited the dense forests of the Vindhyas, Satpura and Mandla in the Narmada region in Madhya Pradesh*.  As is common with most tribal communities who express their joys and sorrows collectively and in a ritualistic manner, the Gonds too have been celebrating their festivals and rituals with songs and dances. For centuries they have been rooted in their cultural practice and traditions.  However, in the 1980s many men from villages began to leave for the cities in search of work.  In those circumstances, Jagdeesh Swaminathan, who was the Director of Bharat Bhawan in Bhopal and was constructing the tribal art wing at Bharat Bhawan found Jangarh Singh Shyam who became the first Gond artist to use paper and canvas for his art.  As most of us know, Jangarh Singh Shyam’s tribal art found great support and success and was exhibited widely not only in India but also abroad.  When in Japan for a three month visit, while he was still in his thirties Jangarh Singh Shyam took his life, under circumstances which are still not clear.  When I met Nankusia Shyam, the late Jangarh Singh Shyam’s wife, one could see that she still carried the burden of the pain and loss.

  

 Nankusia Shyam creates her own identity

Nankusia Shyam revealed that she had no interest in art initially, but later on at the insistence of her husband she began to fill in colours in the figures and drawings.  Once Jangarh Singh Shyam passed away, for her, painting was a way to continue his legacy as well as a means of survival.  During this phase, many artists tried to take advantage of the situation and promote themselves as Jangarh Singh Shyam’s heirs in the art world.  That forced Nankusia Shyam to come out of her mourning and establish herself and her family as the legitimate practitioners of Gond art – or rather the form which was initiated by Jangarh Singh Shyam.  She gained confidence as she worked more and often found herself working late in the night to complete images for paintings which had to be delivered.   

Incidentally, when Jangarh Singh Shyam was alive he already had a system in place where members of his community were apprenticing with him while painting and assisting him.  As a result, there is a whole community of Gond artists who are practicing this tribal art form and are exhibiting in art galleries in India and sometimes even abroad. The particular style and genre of Gond painting which was initiated by Jangarh Singh Shyam is termed Jangarh Kalam. Bhuri Bai and Lado Bai who were also present at the demonstration in Bangalore have been associated with Nankusia Shyam for a long time.

 

Coming back to Nankusia Shyam, she has clearly come a long way.  If you compare her early works to the recent ones, there is a greater clarity and confidence in the paintings now.  Images are refined and there is finesse in her works.  Mythical animals, fables and other stories along with elements from nature are reflected in her paintings.  Her two older children, son Mayank and daughter Japani are also accomplished artists as they have been painting for many years.  I came across one of Japani’s paintings which was a delightful black and white work, with a fascinating imagery and contextually much more contemporary in nature. Nankusia Shyam’s youngest son has not shown much interest in painting until now, but she is optimistic that he may take it up soon!

Folk and Tribal Art – Survival?

Gond art in its current form has been able to establish itself in the mainstream galleries and has also been part of curated exhibitions.  And, although there is a lot of competition amongst the Gond artists to find recognition and acceptance in galleries and auctions, I feel it has fared much better than other folk and tribal arts, which are rendered as crafts displayed in handicraft and lifestyle stores. 

No doubt, commercial and business aspects have crept into the Gond art practice as well, but then one must accept that at the end of the day it is a question of survival.  As I have said many times before, what is much needed at this juncture is sufficient government and corporate support to ensure that our folk and tribal art and other cultural practices/traditions can be sustained and conserved.

*http://ignca.nic.in/tribal_art_intro_gonds_mp.htm

Solo Exhibition of Sculptures by Reghu G

Bangalore based sculptor, Reghu's solo exhibition of sculptures is upcoming at Gallery Sumukha. Details are posted below.

You may also want to read 'Ceramic Art (Sculptures by Reghu)', which I wrote in 2008:

I first came across Reghu’s sculptures about four years ago. Tiny ceramic figures that were based on groupings of men, women and children in animated postures caught my eye. Simple, earthy and quite minimal...read more

Affordable Art

Art Buzz (Chennai)

Art Buzz - Bangalore

Here are a few events happening in Bangalore, I'm particularly looking forward to this show at Sumukha,

Here's a show for bird lovers,

South Asian Film Festival at NGMA,

Charlotte Salomon– Life? Or Theatre?

Event: Exhibition: Charlotte Salomon – Life? Or Theatre?

Date: Feburary 25 to March 9, 2011

Time: 9.30 a.m. - 6.30 p.m.

Venue: Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore

I don't have the evite or images for this exhibition, but it promises to be interesting. I will post images as soon as I have some.

A cinematic experience

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Shaheen Merali was in town last week for the preview of the art exhibition Cinema Verite Redux which he has curated for Gallery Sumukha. The show features works by seven national and international artists, including the Bangalore based Ravi Kumar Kashi. Merali is a curator and writer, currently based in London and Berlin, where, from 2003-8, he was the Head of Exhibitions, Film and New Media at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, curating several exhibitions. This year he has curated The 11th Hour, an exhibition of contemporary art from India/diaspora in Beijing and The Stalking of absence (vis-à-vis Iran) in Tokyo.

For Cinema Verite Redux, Merali modified the exhibition space to present an innovative display which is not often seen in the city; here he explains the concept behind the exhibition and talks about how the perception of Indian art has evolved over the years.

Artist: Charly Nijensohn

NM: This is the first time that you

have curated a show for a Bangalore gallery, how has the experience been?

SM: The experience of working with professionals in Gallery Sumukha has been precise, wonderful and an asset for working within an international setting. Bangalore itself has a wonderful sense of itself, and its ambition that seems to be gaining greater velocity within the visual arts in terms of the provision of high quality exhibition making.

NM: What were your selection criteria in choosing the artists/artworks?

SM: My selection always remains the same in making exhibitions- if a work moves my spirit and creates a sensual affinity to the work, its presence, its processes and its place in the history of art- I tend to hold onto it - as an image, as an experience and a place of communication- when the right moment arrives, a platform that can work for the (art)work, then I select it oft that moment.

NM: What is ‘Cinema Verite’ and how has it been presented through the artworks?

SM: Cinema Verite is a way of locating and recording the world, a use which has specific qualities that differ from other methods of recoding or documenting the subject. It chooses to be in proximity to the subject and a sense of uncluttered and more direct relationship therefore mediated by a lack of technology, which itself can create a distance. It is some of these and its other qualities that I use metaphorically to create a curatorial intention for this exhibition.

NM: From your observation and experience, what are the main differences in the art scene in Bangalore/ India and Berlin or London?

SM: A vast amount of difference- Bangalore has less then twenty odd spaces for the visual arts- London in contrast well over five hundred. The sheer infrastructure difference produces a vast difference in the way culture is disseminated, beyond that there are too many obvious differences, in the differences in the production of under graduate and post graduate students, art fairs, museums and the provision of studio facilities that harbour and enhance artistic praxis.

NM: In your opinion how has the perception of Indian art changed in the last decade, amongst people abroad especially non-Indians?

SM: On the whole the perception of art practice on the Indian community as a whole has very limited impact lets say in comparison to the growing relationship to film and sports culture. Within this limitation there are a few individuals who have been vocal in attempting to champion its place within the contemporary way India should and could be seen. The flurry of activity on Indian contemporary arts has started to be less present now as there is a vast fragmentation of the artists’ works within the system and therefore less evident as Indian and more as individual artists.

(The exhibition continues till July 30 at Gallery Sumukha)

- published in Bangalore Mirror