Sunita Nair’s new book is a treat for anyone interested in local Indian art

Source Vogue India by Gayatri Rangachari Shah
India’s tradition of indigenous art, built over centuries, is increasingly recognised and celebrated, not just nationally, but also around the world. So how do folk and tribal artists negotiate their way in today’s contemporary art world? How do they respond to the pulls and pressures of the market while ensuring their art remains true to its roots? An impressive new book by Sunita Nair, titled Indigenius Artists, examines these questions and delves into the details of the illustrious artist practices surrounding what was once referred to as ‘primitive’ or ‘folk’ art, but is today more aptly called indigenous. Indigenous Artists, 329 pages, is priced at Rs 5,000, and is available at all Taj Khazana stores in India or on Amazon.
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The Plurality and Progressivism of India’s Modern Art Revolution

Source Hyperallergic by Zachary Small
In the show’s final section, called “Masters of the Game,” Progressive Revolution argues that India’s artists borrowed from a range of traditional folk- and high-art styles to create their own version of modernism. Even though most works in the show’s finale were created after PAG’s dissolution, they all demonstrate a united approach to upending the cultural mores of Indian society. This final section is replete with historical gems and challenging visual splendor. Erotic male and female nudes rule the gallery walls, echoing the poses of millennia-old sculptures. Take a look at “Shiva and Parvati” (from the Transitional period, late 10th to early 11th centuries) and think about M. F. Husain’s “Eternal Lovers” (1968) for a good comparison. Seen in the exhibition’s catalogue but not the exhibition, Husain’s interpretation of the godly duo as a normal couple in naked repose was a scandalous move for Indian society.
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Kiran Nadar's Groundbreaking Museum Of Indian Art

Source Forbes by Naazneen Karmali
Nadar is sometimes referred to as the maharani of the Indian art world for her collection of modern South Asian art that now numbers more than 5,500 pieces. The museum opened in 2010 and is funded by her family's foundation. Her interest in art was sparked accidentally when she began to buy paintings for her home three decades ago. By 2005 she had a collection substantial enough to consider building a museum. "It used to pinch me that the bulk of my artworks were in storage when I really wanted to share them with the world at large," she explains. Today the museum draws 100,000 visitors annually and has made "some incredible artworks accessible to common citizens," says Gaurav Bhatia, managing director of Sotheby's India. He calls her collection the outcome of "a wonderful mix of instinct, study and enthusiasm."
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Anoop Skaria passes away: Fraternity remembers the man who established Kochi as a hub for contemporary art

Source Firstpost
White walls with artworks, wooden benches polished to a high shine, a quiet courtyard with sculptures and stone seats, an open seating space under a tiled roof, delicious treats, and above all, a sense of community. At Kochi's well-known Kashi Art Gallery and Cafe, a visitor might experience this all. They would also be in the very place that, in a way, laid the foundations for Kochi to become a hub of contemporary art in India. The founder of the Kashi Art Gallery and Cafe — Anoop Skaria — however, is no more. Skaria, who set up the gallery-cafe with his wife Dorrie Younger a little over two decades ago, passed away on Saturday, 20 October.
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Outsider Art Fair 18-21 oct 2018 Atelier Richelieu Paris

Solo show Jean-Daniel Allanche
Jean-Daniel Allanche (1940-2015) enseigne la Physique à l'université de Paris-VII ainsi que dix années en Afrique. Parallèlement, il pratique musique, écriture et peinture. Son œuvre picturale ne sera jamais montrée de son vivant. Hormis une centaine de peintures sur papier et sur toile, c'est sur les murs de ses lieux de vie qu'il affectionne de peindre.
C'est tout particulièrement dans son appartement de la rue des Ciseaux, un sixième étage sans ascenseur à cent mètres de l'église Saint-Germain-des-Prés, qu'il va créer. Son univers pictural se complètera au fils du temps par l'accumulation de nombreux objets hétéroclites et sculptures africaines transformant son lieu de vie en une œuvre d'art globale.
"Depuis 1975, j'ai occupé mes loisirs à la création de ce lieu : plus de 200m2 de peintures murales et au plafond. Elles illustrent les résultats de la théorie harmonique des couleurs. Pour ce qui est des motifs, elle exprime un nouveau style que j'ai appelé peinture-molécules. Des ronds plus ou moins grands composent les éléments du dessin qui reste figuratif (…)" Jean-Daniel Allanche, notes datées de 2000.
Dans plusieurs cahiers, Jean-Daniel Allanche va développer des théories entre la physique, la peinture, la musique et le jeu : Théorie harmonique des couleurs, Harmonie et Anharmonie, Jeu de conservation harmonique globale, Somnolence angulaire et réveil dans une situation non turbulente, Automatisme angulaire en l’absence de turbulence, Jeu de facilité...
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'India Should Consider Cultural Exchanges Much More Diverse Than British'

Source The Wire by Soumitra Das
Catherine David was in India last month on the invitation of the Raza Foundation and the French Embassy and was exploring the possibilities of holding an exhibition of Sayed Haider Raza’s works at the Centre Pompidou to coincide with the artist’s birth centenary in 2022. During her three-day stay in Kolkata, she was hosted by Reena and Abhijit Lath of Akar Prakar. She even visited Santiniketan for two days. I had conversations with her on two successive days after lunch, veering from one topic to another – from Bengali meals on the first day to the Laths served spicy Marwari food on the second, supplemented by biryani and firni, and on both occasions she enjoyed the rich cuisine. David seemed to take the heat and crowds of the city in her stride. That was probably in keeping with the keen interest she takes in the Bengal School and the city – “Calcutta” for her – where it was born. Touching on the exhibition being planned for Sayed Haider Raza’s birth centenary, David said she was considering putting him in dialogue with a contemporary like Kishen Khanna or maybe Ram Kumar, as their early works had a “common point.” Everything being in a fluid state now, Catherine David is expected to make her decisions by the end of this month.
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Metropolitan Museum of Art reclassifies status of Native American art for new exhibition

Source The Art Newspaper by Gabriella Angeleti
Donor of artefacts asked New York museum to present them as "American art rather than tribal art". An exhibition of Native American artefacts will take place in the American wing of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art for the first time in its history. The exhibition comprises 116 works from the collection of the US philanthropists Charles and Valerie Diker, who recently donated 91 pieces to the museum. The donation was made under the condition that they “would be presented as American art rather than tribal art,” says Charles Diker. “Perhaps to recontextualise what we define as American culture.” The Dikers began collecting Native American works of art in the 1970s while living near Serafina, New Mexico. Unlike the Modern and contemporary works that dominated their collection at the time, “Native American art was not about purchasing an artist, but rather preserving a culture and an aesthetic,” Diker says. The couple drew parallels between “anonymous Native American creators and artists like Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, who were inspired by, and able to translate, the abstraction of Native American art in their own work”, Diker says.
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Le Met doit rayer le mot "tribal" de ses œuvres "amérindiennes"

Source Le Quotidien de l'Art par Magali Lessivage
C'est la première fois que l'aile consacrée à l'art américain du Metropolitan Museum de New York, fondé en 1872, accueille une exposition d'objets « Native Americans ». Dans ses collections permanentes, les arts « amérindiens » sont exposés avec les arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie, tandis que l'« American Wing » présente des peintures, sculptures et œuvres d'arts décoratifs des XIXe et XXe siècles. Une distinction dont ne veulent pas Charles et Valerie Diker, qui viennent de faire don d'une collection de 91 pièces au musée, où elles sont exposées jusqu'en octobre 2019. Provenant de 50 peuples différents d'Amérique du Nord, elles sont léguées à condition d'être « présentées comme art américain et non art tribal, afin de recontextualiser ce que l'on nomme "art américain" » et de monter leur influence notamment sur des peintres tels Mark Rothko ou Jackson Pollock, dont les Diker sont aussi collectionneurs.

Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum: A house for Indian art

Source The Hindu by Shailaja Tripathi
Ahmedabad is a city of museums — kite museum, a museum of utensils, a world-class textile museum, toy museum and more. Any addition to this list would be a mere add-on, unless it of some consequence. Sanjay Lalbhai and Jayshree Lalbhai understood this well and that’s why Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum has a character distinct from any other of its ilk. The museum that opened to the public last year, is just a 100 metres away from the famed Calico Museum of Textiles in Shahibaug. At first, the architecture of this colonial structure draws you in, before the masterpieces inside take over.
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A curatorial vision for Kochi-Muziris Biennale

Source The New Indian Express
Elaborating on this year’s theme - ‘Possibilities for a Non-Alienated Life’ - she said, “My earliest intuitive vision for this edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale to explore the possibilities for a non-alienated life has remained with me. The need to listen, think and learn with each other, particularly voices from the margins - of women, of the queer community, the oppressed castes, the whispers and signs of nature - with a spirit of freedom and comradeship is vital. In both the exhibition and the carefully designed interactive spaces, I hope the incredible range of exhibiting artists and visitors will become active participants and co-producers of the Biennale as a shared knowledge laboratory.”
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