CONTEMPORARY ONE WORD SEVERAL WORLDS

mardi 30 mars 2010

Exhibition of contemporary tribal art from India opens on note of controversy

Source The Hindu by Vaiju Naravane
Paris: ‘Other Masters From India — Contemporary Creations of the Adivasis,' a stunning exhibition of contemporary tribal art from India opened on Monday at the Quai Branly Museum in Paris.
Conceived and curated by Jyotindra Jain, the former director of the Crafts Museum in New Delhi and one of India's foremost historians and chroniclers of tribal art, this exhibition is not just a visual and aesthetic treat; it has been put together diligently and intelligently, taking the viewer down the years, from the time when tribal art was ritualistic and iconographical, confined to the walls of Adivasi homes, to the present when art has enabled contemporary artists to give voice to their existential predicaments, thus transforming their artistic space.
The entire credit for this exercise goes to Dr. Jain's scholarship, knowledge and aesthetic sensibility. Most of the writings and several rare photographs in the detailed and richly illustrated catalogue have been contributed by him. However, the exhibition has been marred by the fact that Dr. Jain, who spent three years working on this project, has not been given adequate credit for his contribution.
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L'autre visage de l'Inde

Source Le Journal du Dimanche par Stéphanie Belpêche
Jamais un chantier n’aura semblé si serein. Pourtant, il ne reste que quelques jours pour peaufiner l’installation de la nouvelle exposition qui crée l’événement au musée du Quai-Branly. 350 œuvres disséminées sur 2.000 m2 racontent l’évolution des pratiques artistiques des Adivasi, terme générique pour désigner les populations tribales de l’Inde. Jyotindra Jain, professeur émérite à New Delhi, supervise l’avancée des travaux sans élever la voix.
L’humilité du commissaire cadre avec l’état d’esprit et les conditions techniques dans lesquels ont été réalisées les pièces. "Selon des textes anciens, des ethnies homogènes existaient confinées dans les forêts, unies par le sang ou la langue. Chacune avait sa propre organisation interne. A l’époque coloniale, les groupes ont été étudiés et répertoriés selon des critères morphologiques ou bien les territoires occupés. On dénombre aujourd’hui 60 millions d’autochtones, qui habitent toujours en marge de la communauté hindoue dominante mais qui en subissent inévitablement l’emprise."
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samedi 27 mars 2010

L'art tribal, nouveau terrain de prospection de l'art contemporain

Source Le Monde par Emmanuelle Lequeux
Reste à inventer un discours critique qui accompagne ces créations au statut hybride. "J'aimerais que cette distinction inepte entre "artiste urbain" et "artiste tribal" disparaisse, milite Dayanita Singh, fameuse photographe indienne. Un artiste est un artiste, c'est tout." On ne peut pas dire que tous ces artisans sont artistes, mais il y a des artistes parmi eux, nuance Rashmi Poddar, rédactrice en chef de la revue d'art Marg. "Je suis sûre que bientôt, ces derniers entreront dans les musées d'art contemporain, comme les bronzes de l'ethnie Bastar qui sont déjà vendus très chers."
Occidentaux ou Indiens, quelques collectionneurs s'intéressent en effet à ces productions, comme Dominique de Villepin, alors qu'il était en poste en Inde au début des années 1990. "La distinction entre art et artisanat était valable au XXe siècle, plus aujourd'hui, analyse un collectionneur indien, Adipya Ruia. Je suis las de l'art classique, avec toutes ses codifications. L'art tribal est plus direct, honnête, il naît du coeur et se permet des licences interdites dans l'art hindou."
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'Painted Songs' Displays Gond Art from India

source India New England By Jen Richman
“Painted Songs and Stories: Contemporary Pardhan Gond Art from India,” an art exhibit featuring the works of eight bardic priests from the Pardhan Gond region of central India, is set to run from April 7 to June 6 at Wellesley College’s Davis Museum. A smaller exhibit running April 11 through May 6 at the Brookline Arts Center, titled “The Tribal World of Venkat Raman Singh Shyam,” is a related solo exhibit featuring the work of one particular Gond artist.
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Contemporary Indian Art Rakes in Millions

Source The Buzz by Lavina Melwani
Recession? What recession? An untitled painting by M.F. Husain just sold in auction in New York for over a cool million dollars – $1,058,500 to be exact, over five times the estimated price. ‘Gestation’ by H.S. Raza, which was estimated at $600-000 and 800-000, fetched $ 1,202,500. An untitled Manjit Bawa sold for $602,500, double the pre-sale estimate. Contemporary Indian art is certainly the comeback kid if the auction results at Christies, Sotheby’s and the online auction house Saffronart are any indication. The recently concluded sales during Asia Week revealed a healthy appetite amongst collectors for buying the best of Indian modern and contemporary art after the slowdown experienced immediately after the economic downturn.
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jeudi 25 mars 2010

Husain, Raza works fetch a $1million each

Source : Times of India
The market for Indian art is hotting up. Works by two modernists, M F Husain and Syed Haider Raza, hit the million dollar mark at auctions in New York.
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Mars, le retour !

Pour la première fois depuis la crise, deux œuvres d’art moderne Indien refranchissent le cap du million de dollar. Une huile sur toile de MF Husain estimée 150.000-200.000 $ part pour 1.058.500 $ chez Sotheby’s NY le 24 mars. « Gestation », une acrylique sur toile de SH Raza estimée 600.000-800.000 $ atteint 1.202.500 $ (Christies NY 23 mars). Dans la même semaine, à noter les bonnes performances des modernes Akbar Padamsee (250.000-300.000 $ vendu 578.500 $) et Manjit Bawa (estimation 200.00-300.000 $ vendu 602.500 $), des contemporains Atul Dodiya (60.000-80.000 $ vendu 134.500 $) et Ravinder Reddy (50.000-70.000 $ vendu 122.500 $). A souligner aussi l’introduction par Sotheby’s NY d’une des figures historiques de l’art tribal Indien, Jangarh Singh Shyam (estimation 5.000-7.000 $ adjugé 13.750 $), artiste que l’on pourra découvrir prochainement à travers le solo show que lui dédie le Musée du Quai Branly dans le cadre de son exposition « Autres maîtres de l’Inde » (29 mars-16 juillet 2010). Le marché de l’art Indien, par ses résultats positifs, reflète la bonne santé de l’économie indienne.

mardi 23 mars 2010

Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Mahishasura’ fetches Rs 4.56 cr at auction

Source The economic Times
An exceptional painting by Tyeb Mehta, titled ‘Head Studies of the Mahishasura’, turned out to be the most expensive sale at the Osian’s Masterpieces Series Auction, and was sold for a whopping Rs 4.56 crore. The auction, that brought together a range of historically significant works of fine art by India’s finest masters of Modern & Contemporary Art, registered a total sale of Rs 18.73 crore, which includes the hammer price and buyer’s premium.
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mardi 16 mars 2010

Saffronart sells 75% of the lots in its Spring auction

Source The Economic Times
Leading auctioneer Saffronart has sold 75% of the lots in its Spring auction totalling Rs 21 crore. MF Husain, FN Souza, Akbar Padamsee and
Subodh Gupta have gone for over Rs 1 crore. A majority of the lots saw competitive bidding with 60% of the lots exceeding their high estimates. The shift in market trends was clear with collectors’ demand consistently building up around artworks of outstanding quality and provenance.
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lundi 15 mars 2010

A decade-long commitment to art

Source DNA By Riddhi Doshi
In 2003, the couple was about to shut Saffronart due to heavy losses. Both accept they learned their lesson. “We sat and decided that it’s a down market so we better think out of the box. And in fact we began to auction jewellery and also opened our new office space in London.” Minal takes over, “We did tighten our belts and cut our costs but at the same time thought of doing something new. We stayed committed and decided to stand by our passion.”
And lastly, the action plan of the next ten-year phase is to broaden the product category. The focus is on the grass root level art of the country and most importantly, to build a private museum in Mumbai. “It will be a long process. But we do need to preserve art. We just have two museums in Mumbai and it’s time we have a few more,” ends Dinesh.
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jeudi 11 mars 2010

Home and the world

Source Hindunstan Times by Rajiv J. Chaudhri
The story of Modern Indian Art parallels that of Modern India — artistic awakenings paralleling the political awakenings, both dating back to the mid-19th century. While political India was inventing political multiculturalism, artistic India was inventing artistic multiculturalism. Political India institutionalised 20th century political multiculturalism in 1950 when the country gave itself a new Constitution. For political India, multiculturalism was about the viability and survival of a newly-created multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-linguistic nation. For artistic India, it was about freedom, creativity, self-expression and the universal human spirit.
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mardi 9 mars 2010

Minal Vazirani, Co-founder Saffronart

Source Elite Traveler
For decades, the art flock could reliably count on New York and a handful of European capitals to provide a clear snapshot of the most important contemporary talent and ideas. But in 2000, when she founded Saffronart with her husband, Minal Vazirani, an ardent collector of modern Indian art became part of a vanguard that's made Mumbai another pole on the global art circuit. The trailblazing company brought contemporary Indian art to a international audience with online and gallery auctions and sales. Its successful formula of clear pricing and accessibility has helped works from new and established Indian artists find homes with some of the world's top collectors.
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Shock over 'loss' of Indian art maestro

Source Emirates Business By Reena Amos Dyes
The Indian community in the UAE reacted with shock yesterday after renowned artist MF Husain gave up his Indian citizenship and became a citizen of Qatar. Many of them laid the blame for Husain's decision firmly at the door of the Indian Government. "As an Indian I feel the loss very deeply," Dubai gallery owner Malini Gulrajani told Emirates Business. "He was a national treasure and we have lost him."
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A victim of state apathy

Source Gulf News By Rakesh Mani
India's religious art has brazenly depicted nudity and sexuality through the ages, whether through sculptures at the Khajuraho temple complex or through murals and frescoes across temples in southern India.
And so one finds it strange that the country's political parties, and their attendant public, have shown themselves so intolerant of art and culture as to banish their most prominent and successful artist into permanent exile. India's Home Minister P. Chidambaram said at a press conference that the government would be pleased if Hussain returned to India.
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