An ode to tribals

Source Times of India by Ekta Yadav
The four-day long film festival, which concludes today, had around 80 films from across the world, screened at the museum. AK Bir, whose film Aranyak was screened on the opening day, said, "I'm glad that my film was screened at this film festival. I've come to this city for the first time and I really liked it here. The Tribal Museum is very interesting and it's good that we are paying attention to tribal art and culture."
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Collection de corps subtils à Lille

Source Libération par Dominique Poiret
Cette année, le LaM (Lille Métropole Musée d’art moderne, d’art contemporain et d’art brut) fête ses 30 ans. Bâti par Roland Simounet en 1983, fermé de 2006 à 2010, le bâtiment a été agrandi par Manuelle Gautrand pour mettre en valeur l’exceptionnelle donation de l’association l’Aracine, 3 500 œuvres d’art brut. Le musée reçoit durant l’été la collection d’art brut et d’art indien (photo, œuvre anonyme) de Philippe Mons. «Corps subtils» est la troisième collection particulière qu’il présente depuis sa réouverture. L’exposition rassemble plus de 500 œuvres - sculptures, peintures, objets - que le médecin psychiatre et professeur de yoga accumule depuis les années 70.
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Indian contemporary art fetches millions at Christie's auction

Source Hindustan Times
Indian contemporary art set new records at a Christie's auction in London, fetching £4.7 million through the sale of paintings by celebrated artists like Vasudeo S Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and MF Husain. The highlight of the South Asian and Contemporary Art sale at the auction house on Tuesday was a major untitled work by abstract artist Gaitonde which sold for £625,875, with all his paintings going under the hammer for over £1.2 million. The collection had emerged on the auction circuit for the first time in 50 years and many of them have been acquired by a private art collector.
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Indian Artist Highlights the Absurdities of Our Time

Source The New York Times by Gayatri Rangachari Shah
Ms. Gupta also shies away from calling her art political, preferring to refer to her works as “everyday art” because they are a direct response to her daily observations, including on current events. “I don’t like the term political because it’s just another category,” she said. “I am interested in the absurdity of large-scale group-making practices and what human beings do with that.”
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Global Gaitonde

Source Business Standard by Kishore Singh
Gaitonde first exhibited in New York in 1959, and subsequently in 1963, where his works drew the attention of the John D Rockefeller III Fund, offering him a yearlong fellowship in the city in 1964, which was followed by a solo exhibition at Willard Gallery in 1965 when a critic described his work as "non-objective" - a term Gaitonde was to favour through his lifetime, insisting there was no such thing as abstract art. A meticulous and exacting artist, he would apply layers of translucent paint to give his canvases luminous depth, and was famously disagreeable to painting prolifically, which is responsible for the current demand since a possible drought looms ahead as his works move into collections that would be loath to recycle them any time soon. That could be the reason why his prices have remained hard and can only strengthen as his buyer base moves from the Indian to the global. Should the Chinese develop an interest in him - as some expect - they might then rise faster than any other Indian artist.
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Corps Subtils. Une traversée des collections d'art brut et d'art indien de Philippe Mons

Source Paris Art
Construite comme une fable, l'exposition fait dialoguer des créations artistiques indiennes, à vocation religieuse et traditionnelle, avec des œuvres d'art brut, fruits de l'individualisme et de la singularité. Elle met en regard les tentatives d'atteindre le divin exprimées par l'art tantrique, avec la pensée magique ou ésotérique qui anime de nombreuses œuvres d'art brut. Le parcours commence par une salle d'introduction intitulée Éloge de la liberté en référence aux expositions d'art brut organisées par Philippe Mons.
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20th century pop calendar arts brought ancient storytelling to everyday India

Source Women News Network by Habiba Insaf
The invention of lithography and its mass circulation in Indian consumerist society profoundly transformed the patterns of communication with individuals, society and with gods in both private and public spaces. The cheapness and ease of production along with the portable nature of lithographs soon turned them into weapons of anti-imperialist propaganda that inflamed nationalist sentiment through eulogizing portraits of militant rulers like Shivaji, Maharana Pratap who fought to overthrow foreign rulers. It also depicted cultural nationalists like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Tilak, as well as freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh, Subhash Chandra Bose etc. who sacrificed their lives for ‘Mother India.’
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Missing India in Venice

Source The Indian Express by Vishakha N Desai
As we were perusing the Angola pavilion and picking up our share of printed photographs from the award-winning installation at the Venice Biennale, my American friend stopped and asked with a surprised look: "Where is the Indian pavilion? Why is India so glaringly absent here?" Over the four days I spent at the Venice Biennale, I heard this sentiment expressed by many of my art literati friends from different parts of the world. There are 88 national pavilions in the historical Giardini and scattered throughout the city. Close to a thousand artists from all parts of the world are represented in exhibitions, national pavilions and collateral events. Some 35,000 art leaders and enthusiasts have gone through the Biennale in the first three days of the preview alone, and 5,00,000 people are expected to visit this extravaganza by the time it closes in November. Most countries realise the enormous opportunity to project their cultural strength at this oldest, largest and most prestigious global art event. So, the question is a fair one: if Angola and Estonia can present themselves to the global art world, why can't India?
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Prez inaugurates tribal culture museum

Source Business Standard
President Pranab Mukherjee today asked the Madhya Pradesh government to conduct serious anthropological studies to develop better understanding of human evolution. Mukherjee inaugurated a Madhya Pradesh government museum that exhibits the art and culture of the tribes of central India. He said it is from a clearer understanding of traditional societies and their culture that we can better appreciate the dynamics of our nation's evolution and the greatness of its ancient civilisation.
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Bauhaus in Calcutta. An Encounter of cosmopolitian Avant-Gardes

Source Hindustan Times by Martin Kämpchen
The new exhibition of Bauhaus Dessau Foundation is telling the story of an extraordinary show in india. In 1922, works by Bauhaus artists like Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, or Wassily Kandinsky and were shown together with works of indian avant-garde artists in Calcutta. Both avant-gardes were united by the mutual search for intellectual reform and cultural emancipation. Ninety years later, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation shows a selection of european and indian works, which were part of the exhibition in calcutta in 1922.
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L'art contemporain est une pratique qui constamment redéfinit sa définition

Source Le Quotidien de l'Art entretien avec Massimiliano Gioni
Présenter de l’art brut ou des choses qui ne sont pas de l’art à côté des travaux d’artistes davantage reconnus crée une confusion intéressante dans laquelle l’œuvre d’art devient moins un chef-d’œuvre et plus une machine à produire des histoires et des interprétations. Cela rapproche l’art d’une réflexion sur la culture visuelle.
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Jivya Soma Mashe The Organic Painter

Source Indian Express by Sushant Kulkarni
In 1973 Kulkarni had come to Ganjad to study Warli life and paintings. He invited four women to accompany him to the exhibition. But they were not ready to go with a stranger. "They decided to ask my father, who at the time was the only male Warli artist. Even today, for the rituals or ceremonies, women start the painting by drawing four sacred lines of the dev chauk, by dipping their hands in rice paste. Men draw the remaining figures," Sadashiv says.
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Art contemporain et identités autochtones

Source INHA
Le 17 mai 2013, sera inaugurée à Ottawa, au Musée national des beaux-arts du Canada, l’exposition, Sakahàn : International Indigenous Art*. Contrairement aux modèles des grandes manifestations dédiées à l’art contemporain, Sakahàn expose un art contemporain dit « autochtone ». Un art en prise avec une généalogie, une singularité culturelle et territoriale, et qui a su relever et jouer de cette distinction, tout en s’internationalisant. Photo : Jimmie Durham, Encore tranquillité, 2008, Pierre en fibre de verre et avion, 150 × 860 × 806 cm, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, Ottawa, Photo : Roman März.
> voir programme du colloque du 29-30 mai à Paris

Shilpa Gupta opens exhibition at Galerie im Taxispalais

Source Art Daily
In her new works, which were created especially for the exhibition will we ever be able to mark enough?, Shilpa Gupta addresses the climate of fear that is a part of everyday life in many parts of the world due to threats of various kinds. Territorial borders, the confiscation of everyday objects at airports, the unexplained disappearance of people in war are themes that she sensitively interprets and incorporates into her work.
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A World of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery

Source The Epoch Times by Susan Hallet
“Sakahan: International Indigenous Art,” the largest-ever global survey of contemporary indigenous art, which is currently on display at the National Gallery, exhibits the richness of this genre. “This is a breathtaking exhibition, the largest in our 130 year history,” said Marc Mayer, National Gallery of Canada director and CEO.” Pieces by 80 artists from 16 countries are displayed, and according to Mayer, the exhibit will “really broaden the experience of what we think of as contemporary art.” One of the artists I had the privilege of talking to had travelled all the way from India to be at the opening. Venkat Raman Singh Shyam lives in Bhopal, India and continues the family tradition of telling stories through art.
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Contemporary, one word, several worlds

Source Raw Vision by Scott Rothstein
The title of Herve Perdriolle’s new book, Indian Contemporary Art: Contemporary, One Word, Several Worlds, reads like a short poem. It implies rather than defines the subject of the volume. Yet, in light of the material documented, a poet’s voice is appropriate. Academics and scholars today often ignore the art forms presented in this book, perceiving them as unworthy of serious consideration. Perdriolle, on the other hand, is a persuasive advocate. His book, elegantly illustrated and well researched, is the culmination of his efforts to bring clarity to art that is often misunderstood and under-represented.
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Les cent ans du cinéma indien sur la Croisette

Source Culturebox par Jean-François Lixon
L'Inde commémore en cette année 2013 la sortie du premier film de fiction du sous-continent, Raja Harishchandra tourné en 1912 par Dundiraj Govind Phalke. La présence dans le jury présidé par Steven Spielberg de l'immense vedette indienne Vidya Balan marque l'importance que le festival international du film accorde à cet évènement. L'an dernier l'Inde a produit un millier de longs métrages. Quatre sont présentés en ou hors sélection sur la Croisette. Culturebox a rencontré Vitramjit Roy, le manager général de la National Film Development corporation Ltd.
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Charles Correa: India's greatest architect

Source The Guardian by Rowan Moore
More importantly, Correa is interested in the ways that Indian cities work, in their resilience despite their apparently permanent state of crisis, and in ways to improve them without erasing their strengths. "Our cities are among the greatest things that we have; they are part of the wealth of India. They are places of hope. The skills we need are urban skills – we never have to ask the World Bank to send us an expert because our cities already provide them." He quotes the former mayor of the Brazilian city of Curitiba, Jaime Lerner, who said that "cities are not the problem; they are the solution". "Isn't that good?" says Correa.
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Enchères: record historique d'un demi-milliard de dollars chez Christie's

Source Le Nouvel Observateur
Une vente aux enchères d'une série d'oeuvres d'art contemporain, dont un tableau de l'Américain Jackson Pollock, a franchi un record mondial historique mercredi soir chez Christie's à New York, avec la somme fabuleuse de près d'un demi-milliard de dollars (quelque 385 millions d'euros). "C'est la vente aux enchères la plus élevée de l'Histoire" dans le domaine de l'art, s'est enthousiasmé Brett Gorvy, le chef du département de l'art d'après-Guerre et contemporain chez Christie's, estimant que ce record illustre l'entrée dans une "nouvelle ère sur le marché de l'art, où les collectionneurs chevronnés et les nouveaux enchérisseurs rivalisent au plus haut niveau, dans le cadre d'un marché mondial".
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Christie's contemporary art sale is biggest auction in history

Source Indian Express
The spring auctions ended on a record-shattering high on Wednesday as Christie's contemporary art sale achieved the highest total - $495 million - in the history of art auctions. Artists' records fell one after another, led by Jackson Pollock, Roy Lichtenstein and Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose works each soared to anywhere from $49 million to $58 million. "We are in a new era of the art market," said Jussi Pylkkanen, president and chairman of Christie's Europe, who also served as auctioneer. "There is global competition that we have never seen in the art world before," he added.
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La culture rapporte plus qu’elle ne coûte selon un rapport anglais

Source Le Quotidien des Arts
Ainsi, alors que la culture produit 0,4 % du PIB anglais, soit 12,4 milliards de livres sterling (14,7 milliards d’euros), les sommes qui y sont investies n’excèdent pas 0,1 % du PIB. Ces proportions montrent que la culture rapporte d’avantage par livre sterling investie que la santé, la vente en gros ou au détail ou les services aux professionnels. L’analyse conclut que le champ culturel a poursuivi sa croissance depuis 2008, malgré la crise économique mondiale.
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New hues on the block

Source The Asian Age by Aditi Pancholi
As a preview of the United Art Fair 2013, gallerist and art collector Peter Nagy and his six-membered curatorial team assembled a diverse group of art works by some of the most promising budding talent of the Indian contemporary art scene. Curator Alka Pande says, “We have looked at the younger artists’ ways of representation and tried to bring to the fair the cultural diversity of our nation. We are exploring the scene of art in contemporary India — whether it is rural, folk, tribal or experimental avant garde.”
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Iconic work by Indian artists up for sale to benefit environmental and wildlife

Source The Hindu
Iconic work by major Indian artists are up for auction in New York to benefit environmental and wildlife conservation efforts. The artistic creation of Anish Kapoor and Bharti Kher would be up for sale at The 11th Hour Charity Auction, an evening sale on May 13 in New York, organised by Christie’s in partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation for environmental charity, Christie’s said in a statement.
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Sotheby's Auction Boosts Indian Art Sales

Source The New York Times by Gayatri Rangachari Shah
The works of the Amaya Collection, which included paintings by modern masters like Vasudeo Gaitonde, Sayed Haider Raza and Francis Newton Souza, were amassed by Amrita Jhaveri, a collector and gallery owner based in London. Sixty percent of the sale prices exceeded their high estimates, and the 43 lots brought in a total of $6,694,875, just under Sotheby’s pre-sale high estimate of $7 million. Ms. Jhaveri said she felt both elation and relief after the sale and wants to reorient her collection to include art and artists who have been overlooked by the market. “My collection follows my life and interest,” she said. “When I die, I want to have just 10 works on my wall in one home.”
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Tribal artists can be a good addition to your portfolio

Source The Arts Trust Magazine
Indeed, artistic ‘adivasis’ have started drawing attention of astute art lovers. Going by the rising demand for tribal art at major auctions, the prices are only going to rise in future. This might be the perfect time to acquire some wonderful works by these highly talented indigenous artists.
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