New York:
A month-long exhibition of contemporary Indian art exploring the themes of cultural dislocation, memory, exile and spiritual inheritances implicit in the word diaspora will begin in New York on September 13.
The Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, curated by Vijay Kumar and on till October 18 at the Queen's Museum of Art, is a mix of painting, drawing and prints, photographs, C-prints, photomontages and videos, sculpture and installation of 27 contemporary artists.
Organised by Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), the exhibition explores and draws from the experiences of artists whose origins can be traced to the Indian subcontinent.
"Quite a few of the artists -- both abstract and figurative -- describe their work (or the impetus behind it) in spiritual terms, and many of the works comment directly on environmental and political issues," says curator Kumar.
While Khalil Chishtee's figures are made out of plastic bags, Jagdish Prabhu has drawn his figures in soot (carbon). Pritika Chowdhry's installation titled "What the Body Remembers" comprises sculptures' that investigate the potential of the 'fragmented body to invoke collective narratives of trauma'.
The IAAC aims at promoting and building awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America.