South Asian Art
Inside India’s Booming Art Scene
In the early days of January, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi spoke for the first time about the Indian contemporary arts scene on his youtube channel. Referencing the India Art, Architecture and Design Biennale held at the Red Fort, New Delhi, in December, which he attended, Modi called the event a “celebration of our country’s diverse heritage and vibrant culture” and spoke about his pleasure at being able to interact with art and artists. Later, he published photos of the event on his own website. For a ten year presidency that has offered little financial support to the arts, and in an election year, this broadcast and coverage felt to some like nothing more than a publicity campaign.
“The art industry in India has been hard forged by artists with hardly any grants or government support” says Delhi-based artist Vikrant Bhise, “some people were suspicious by his attendance at an art event.” Due to this lack of support, Indian artists have taken the situation into their own hands and are proud of their homegrown grassroots contemporary art scene. The last five years has seen the Indian art market boom, culminating with the success of the India Art Fair, the largest art event in South Asia, which reached a crescendo in early February when it hosted its biggest event to date. The fifteenth edition of IAF hosted 109 exhibitors, with a mix of blue chip and emerging Indian galleries selling at the highest rates the fair has ever seen – Carpenters Workshop Gallery made a total of $1,615,000 in sales. IAF encapsulates an exciting time for Indian artists, who have long felt their practice is overlooked culturally.
John Gilmore Ford, an interior designer and South Asian art collector, died of heart failure on Dec. 21 at his North Baltimore home. He was 95.
“John had a brilliant eye. He found magnificent pieces in the 1960s,” said Gary Vikan, former Walters Art Museum director. “He also had the courage as a collector to go into unfamiliar areas, specifically, the arts of the Himalayas. “
Mr. Ford donated his works to the Walters in 2001, and it is the most important art gift given to the museum after its original collection amassed by William and Henry Walters, Mr. Vikan said.
It may be widely used now but the term “Asian American” is only a few decades old, being coined in 1968 by UC Berkeley activists Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka, as they sought an umbrella identity for their student organization, eventually hitting on the Asian American Political Alliance. The term caught on in part because it replaced the term “oriental”, widely considered to be racist and associated with aggressive campaigns of colonialism, and partly because it allowed the wider community of immigrants from Asia to band together to wield greater political influence.
The term remains popular but it has faced its share of criticism, among other things for obscuring the realities of those from less economically powerful and geographically centered Asian nations. An intriguing new art exhibition currently on show at New York University’s 80WSE Gallery seeks to interrogate and deconstruct the term while bringing forth an extremely wide variety of art created from within the community.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/nov/07/legacies-new-exhibition-asian-american-art
Northwest London’s neighbourhood and entertainment district kicked off the celebrations at London Designer Outlet on Friday 1st November, with enlivening Bhangra beats and free body decorations by local henna artists. A high-energy performance by BollyRed Dance Company and musicians playing the double-headed dhol drum then set the tone for the weekend’s dynamic lineup of performances, interactive workshops, and cultural showcases.
On Saturday 2nd November, the ‘Diwali Utsav: A Celebration of South Asian Arts’ festival took place at the Sound Shell stage on Olympic Way, with artists from across South Asian communities worldwide taking to the stage.
Read More:https://www.londondaily.news/three-day-diwali-spectacular-hailed-as-huge-success-in-wembley-park/
