New Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum to Open for Public From Aug. 1

EFT Report, New Delhi: The new Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum will open for public viewing from August 1, 2014 (Friday). 

The Museum will be open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 0900 hrs. to 1600 hrs. except on Gazetted Holidays. 

Entry and exit for visitors will be through Gate No. 30 on Mother Teresa Crescent Road. 

Visits can be booked on-line at the website www.presidentofindia.nic.in. Contact details of the Visitors’ Management Cell are 011-23013287, 23015321 Extn. 4662, Fax No. 011-23015246 and email: reception-officer@rb.nic.in for any further assistance which may be required. 

Visits to the Museum will be completely free from August 1, 2014 to October 30, 2014. 

From November 1, 2014, there will be nominal registration charges of Rs. 25/- per head (Children below the age of 12 years will be exempt from these charges). 

Visitors in group of 30 persons will be charged Rs. 600/- lump sum per visit. Visitors in a groups more than 30 persons will be charged Rs. 600/- for 30 visitors and Rs. 25/- per visitor for additional persons. 

These charges are meant to enable Rashtrapati Bhavan maintain and improve services to public. 

The Rashtrapati Bhavan Museum is established in an erstwhile stable of the Rashtrapati Bhavan which housed horses and ceremonial coaches. It is a story telling Museum which will narrate the story of the Rashtrapati Bhavan using sound-light-video animations. It has a simulated battlefield with arms mounted on warriors, examples of furniture designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Viceroy’s residence, ceremonial coaches, photographs and memorabilia of the President’s Body Guard, paintings of the 19th Century, sketches and gifts received by successive Presidents from national and foreign dignitaries etc. 

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Ayesha Sultana’s 'Outside the Field of View' Exhibition Begins

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Experimenter presents Ayesha Sultana’s first solo exhibition, Outside the Field of View, starting 9 May 2014. Rooted in process and the act of making, the exhibition provides an insight into her ongoing investigation of drawing, of seeing space in continuum, of exploring gaps in visual memory and of looking at the periphery and what is overlooked in plain sight.

In a constantly evolving process, Sultana’s work cannot be identified as belonging to a single artistic tendency. She concurrently works in different mediums and techniques, but with a specific interest in the features of materials she uses in the act of making. This leads to other ways of looking and engaging, in the relevance of formal properties of various materials and the depth of meaning of the medium itself. Having discarded the narrative, she often uses drawing as a verb, of 'doing' whether by cutting, folding, piercing, layering, recording, tracing, removing, scratching and so on. A pair of works in the exhibition, made by photocopying for instance, are an extension of that process of investigation, taking its initial source from photography, and later enlarging and creating multiple copies of the same.

An attempt to make visible or to delve into what one can see, and simultaneously translating the visual information, is what engages Sultana. Through the primacy of drawing, this act of looking is to assimilate the experience of her surroundings and space. Space to Sultana seems relational, a field emerging as a result of matter and its parts, in the movement or weight of its fragments, not necessarily marked by a beginning or an end but a structure or a space that never ends – the periphery.

In another body of work, with found and her own photographs, an atmosphere of transience, a kind of abstracted, banal landscape emerges. The pictures may seem groundless, sometimes partially obliterated through solarizing and deliberate scratching off the surface.

The graphite drawings present configurations and arrangements of geometric shapes and spatial structures, in a frame-by-frame progression of image and time, once again bringing forth her interest in the visual understanding of continuation, direction and possibly a form of meditative infinity. On a more tangible level, the smooth surface of the paper is dark but reflective, creating frictions and ruptures and at times resembling metal; while revealing the mineral attributes of graphite and hence referring to the tension produced between the delicate, malleable quality of paper and the austere, detached physicality of graphite.

Counter tendencies of movement and stasis are also evident as an attempt to generate emptiness by filling up the surface. Through other elemental gestures and implications of plotting, measuring and erasure, splicing and filling in, Sultana makes whole, an image that is contained, yet changing. On the other hand, the repetitive marks of the graphite build up a rhythmic field, creating an overall tension that seems to act as a veil to some kind of disclosure.

Born in Jessore, Bangladesh, in 1984, Ayesha Sultana received a BFA in Visual Arts (2007) and subsequently a Post-Graduate Diploma in Art Education (2008) at the Beaconhouse National University in Lahore. From 2007-2009 she taught as Lecturer at the School of Visual Arts and Design at Beacon

house National University. Recent group exhibitions include B/Desh, Dhaka Art Summit, curated by Deepak Ananth; Cross-Casting, Britto Space, Dhaka, curated by Mahbubur Rahman; Listen Up! New Delhi, curated by Diana Campbell-Betancourt & Tim Goosens (all 2014); Samdani Art Foundation stand, India Art Fair, Delhi (2013); Senses 7, Dhaka Art Center; Freefall, Bengal Art Lounge, curated by Giorgio Guglielmino (2012); Rise to Ruin, Alhamra Art Gallery,

Lahore (2010) amongst others. Sultana recently completed a curatorial research residency at Gasworks, London (2013). She is a member of the Dhaka based artist run organisation, Britto Arts Trust. She is also the recipient of the Samdani Art Award 2014.

 

Experimenter was envisioned and started by Prateek & Priyanka Raja in 2009. Experimenter goes outside the hyper-commercial imperatives of the Indian art market, highlighting instead experimental and alternative artists from the entire South Asian subcontinent and artists globally who have a South Asian connection to their practice. Experimenter represents and manages the careers of some of the most exciting and celebrated contemporary artists from South Asia and the rest of the world, including, Bani Abidi, Raqs Media Collective, Naeem Mohaiemen,CAMP, Adip Dutta, Rathin Barman, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Mehreen Murtaza, Sanchayan Ghosh & Hajra Wahed. Experimenter’s artists exhibit at some of the most important international exhibitions and biennials like La Biennial de Venezia, Sao Paulo Biennale, dOCUMENTA, Sharjah Biennial amongst others and in museums such as New Museum NY, Guggenheim, NY, MoMA NY, Tate Modern, London, British Museum, London, MARCO, Rome, LACMA, SFMoMA, The BALTIC amongst several others. Experimenter also participates in major international art fairs such as Art Basel, Basel, Frieze Art Fair, London, Frieze, New York, Art Dubai, Dhaka Art Summit and India Art Fair.

AYESHA SULTANA

Outside the Field of View9 May – 26 June
Opening Preview: Friday, May 9, 6 – 8 pm

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China Arte Brazil Begins in Sao Paulo

Report by Santanu Ganguly: “China Arte Brazil” exhibition kicked off in OCA, Sao Paulo, Brazil on April 10, and will continue till May 5, 2014. Curator Ma Lin and Tereza de Arruda organized the exhibition that will present over 110 works by 62 artists.

Ma Lin Section Artists List: He Chengyao,  Huang Jun, Li Shan, Li Yifan, Li Zhouwei, Liu Yongtao, Mou Huan, Ni Weihua, Qu Yan, Song Gang, Wang Jingsong, Wang Nanming, Wang Xiaosong, Wong Shun-kit, Wu Song, XU Weixin, Yang Kai, Yang Qian, Zhang Minjie, Zhang Jian-jun, Zhang Xiaotao.

Date: April 14-May 18， 2014

Venue: OCA， Sao Paulo

Organizer: Brazil Ministry of Culture, G11

Sponsor: HSBC Bank, Brazil

The Chinese Contemporary Art Landscape is complex, built from the dual influences of China’s own cultural background and trends in Western Art. How should we interpret Chinese contemporary art? How should we evaluate Western critiques of Chinese Contemporary art? In the Chinese art world, these questions are being rethought and discussed. Now, as the concept of “Chinese symbol” has been accepted internationally, the task of finding artists whose works extend beyond “Chinese Symbol” has been undertaken by only few curators and art critics in China. Of course, we can’t use one label to summarize all of Chinese Contemporary art, but can only provide a selection of Chinese Contemporary Art since 2000.

Through my curating section, I select 21 Artists for the China Arte Brazil exhibition, the theme is “Chinese Contemporary Art after 2000” and present with three parts. 

Part 1 “Art intervenes in Society” take Artist Wang Jingsong, Ni Weihua, Li Yifan, Qu Yan, Wang Nanming, He Chengyao, Xu Weixin and Zhang Minjie’s work as example, focus on talk about how the artists look for new art in  non-art, How the artists broke the boundary of art and present social problems throughout their works?

Part 2 “History, Memory and Future” through Li Shan, Zhang Jian-jun, Zhang Xiaotao and Song Gang different subject and artworks, from the imagination of the future, historical and current memory explore problems that people have overlooked.

Part 3 “ Image and Form” from different New Paintings and angles, such as Wong Shun-kit, Yang Qian, Huangjun, Mou Huan, Wu Song, Wang Xiaosong, Yang Kai, Li Zhouwei, Liu Yongtao’s works, discuss post-abstractionism, images, graffiti, strokes and other issues. The 21 artists in this exhibition are only examples of the development of Chinese contemporary art. Because of their different academic backgrounds, they show differences  creative tendencies in their works on the same theme.

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Michal Helfman, Eli Petel, Alexandra Zuckerman's Artworks in Delhi

Report by Santanu Ganguly:  MK Search Art is glad to announce “Michal Helfman—Eli Petel—Alexandra Zuckerman,” a presentation of artworks by Israeli artists Michal Helfman, Eli Petel and Alexandra Zuckerman. Conceived as three concise solo presentations, each artist will exhibit the work in one of the rooms of MK Search Art gallery space, which is located in a historical building in the center of the town of San Giovanni Valdarno in Tuscany, Italy.

Following these premises the exhibition will play with a variety of languages, references and media and on one hand it will underline the visible differences characterizing the practice of these three artists and on the other hand it will highlight possible connections between them. In fact the practices of Michal Helfman, Eli Petel and Alexandra Zuckerman are very distant from each other and yet these three artists belong to the same milieu, they know each other work and in some occasion have even worked together and shared ideas and engaged in conversations.

Working with video, sculpture, painting, drawing, installations and performance, the modus operandi of Michal Heflman (*1973, Tel Aviv) aims towards a deep analysis of issues such as history, violence and culture, issues that are presented through the notion of stage and its related vocabulary. Almost theatrical, ultimately all her works are “scenes” that the artist – who worked as a set designer for night clubs in Tel Aviv and studied dance for many years and now involves dancers in many of her videos and performances – constructs in order to use it as a channel for the distribution of themes that belong to the often tragic and always adventurous history of humankind. At MK Search Art Helfman will show the video A Duet for a Boy and a Flame (2010).

Often employing different media at the same time in order to create meta-linguistic installations and interventions, some very spectacular and some more minute, the work of Eli Petel (*1974, Jerusalem) is deeply rooted in his identity as Sephardic Iraqi-Jew, more generally defined as Oriental Jew or “Misrakhi” in Hebrew. However the multifaceted and easy to misunderstand notion of identity is for Petel just the starting point, a conceptual strategy, an excuse he uses to establish an inner and semi-spiritual dialogue between the artwork and the viewer. In fact all his works own a double nature: on one side they are surgically analyzing the history of art and the history and legacy of the state of Israel and of the Jewish people and on the other side they are all deeply emotional, spiritual and sentimental. At MK Search Art, Petel will exhibit a crying self-portrait – The Whiner (2010) – and picture of his hometown – East Jerusalem (2007-11).

Rooted in the history of painting, the sophisticated and laborious oeuvres of Alexandra Zuckerman (*1981, Moscow) result from different kind of traditions that the artist mixes without solution of continuity. From Medieval and early Renaissance paintings and tapestries to comic books; from fairy tales’ illustrations to Magritte’s iconic compositions; from Eastern European legends – the artist was born in Russia and immigrated to Israel at the age of 9 – to the figures depicted by Pierre Klossowski: all her artworks are full of déjà vu and yet completely contemporary and brand new. Executed through a unique and time-consuming technique invented by the artist – who prefers to work in her small domestic space in Jaffa –, Zuckerman’s tableaux are open windows to a parallel world. For MK Search Art she will present a pencil-on-paper triptych entitled After The Moon (2013).

April 12 - June 1, 2014

Opening: Saturday, April 12, 6:30 pm

MK Search Art, San Giovanni Valdarno/New Delhi

Italy: Corso Italia 14, 52027, San Giovanni Valdarno, Arezzo, Italy

India: B-5 Anupam Plaza Srl Aurobindo Marg Hauz Khas, New Delhi 10016

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Balcao: An Exhibition on Goan History in Delhi Till April 15

Report by Santanu Ganguly: A cozy leisure space called the ‘balcão,’ which literally means a balcony is a uniquely Goan. The Balcao residue an age gone by when there was special bond between neighbors and social relations were based on love, warmth and lots of affection. Balcao - the exhibition represents Portuguese influence on Goan culture. Dhoomimal Gallery gives Delhietes a window to feel Goan culture through the works by Goan artistes and selective works by F.N. Souza curated by Subodh Kerkar. The Balcao, being an essential feature of Goan Homes, the artistes have put in all their creativity to make Goan History alive in Delhi through their paintings & sculptures.

 

Visually attractive and aesthetically engaging, Subodh's own works surprise, enlighten, and educate about the Goan religion, politics, attires and much more.

Portuguese Ambassador H. E. Mr. Jorz Roza de Oliveira, show curator Subodh Kerkar, H.E.Mr.Joao Gomes Cravinho and Ms.Jessica Hallett, Nand Katyal, Shakti Sinha, Shobha Broota, Philip, PadmaShree Biman Bihari Das, Ram Sutar, Kerkar Gallery owner Uday Jain with his wife Sunaina Jain & Mrs. Uma Jain were present there.

 

Exhibition Date: 3rd April - 15^th April 2014

Timing: 11 am to 7 pm (Monday-Saturday)

Venue:  Dhoomimal Gallery, G42, Connaught Circus, New Delhi: 110001

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55th National Exhibition of Art in Delhi From March 22-April 10

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Lalit Kala Akademi (National Academy of Art) Ministry of Culture, Government of India is organizing its annual National Exhibition of Art from 22^nd March, 2014 – 10^th April, 2014 at Rabindra Bhawan, Lalit Kala Akademi at 35, Ferozshah Road. The inauguration of the exhibition and award function will be held at FICCI auditorium. The exhibition will be attended by eminent artists and scholars from all over the country. 

The Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, New Delhi was set up by the Government of India as an autonomous body on 5th August, 1954. Searching for a fresh cultural identity and nationhood, the Indian Government’s commitment to support the arts on a massive scale was made prominent with the establishment of major cultural organizations. These national organizations were established with a strong focus on artistic excellence. The Lalit Kala Akademi, one among such national organizations, emerged as the principal establishment of culture that focuses its activities in the field of Visual Arts in various forms.

Apart from its vast collection of artworks it also sustains a library, archives, conservation laboratory organizes art exhibition in India and foreign countries under the assegais of Cultural exchange.and publishes books and journals of intellectual merit pertaining to visual arts.

The Headquarters of the Akademi is housed at Rabindra Bhavan Complex at Delhi.  It has Regional Centres at Chennai, Lucknow, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Shimla and Garhi in Delhi.  It has a camp office at Shillong also.

National Exhibition of Art: The National Exhibition of Art is a major annual program of the Lalit Kala Akademi. The Akademi has been organizing this prestigious event at various venues in the country to encourage, support and build, a meaningful involvement with artists and art lovers beyond the country’s mega-cities. The Akademi has mounted shows at Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Bhopal, Chandigarh and Goa. Since 1955, the Akademi has organized 54 National Exhibitions of Art and has presented the National Award to 565 artists and Honourable Mentions to 87 artists.

The 55^th National Exhibition comprises of 168 artworks selected from a competitive 6583 entry of works, by 2601 artists, 9 artists in the invited section and four films produced by Lalit Kala Akademi. The award carries Prize Money of Rs 1 Lakh, Plaque and a Certificate, each.

The works were chosen by a Screening Committee consisting of Shri Sachida Nagdev, Dr. Asharfi S. Bhagat, Shri Ajit Kumar Dubey, Shri Satish Sharma, Shri Aditya Arya , H. A. Anil Kumar. A second-tier Jury for choosing the ten National Awardees from this selection has been done by Shri V. Ramesh, Shri Ajay Kumar, Shri Deepak Kanal. Shri Deepak Banerjee, Smt. Shobha Broota, Shri Satya Paul, Shri Suresh Jayaram and Shri Shrenik Jain.

The works in the current exhibition merit attention on account of their challenging content, epitomizing creative features, individual commitment, discriminating quality of methods, materials used and more, so that the exhibition becomes a true representation of the dimensions of contemporary art thinking nationally.

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Etchings, Lithographs, Drawings by Picasso & Dali

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Vadehra Art Gallery is pleased to present Picasso & Dali: Etchings - Photographs - Drawings, an exhibition of works by the masters of European Modernism. The exhibition will be held at Vadehra Art Gallery from February 21 to March 26, 2014.

The exhibition consists of 14 works by Pablo Picasso that are executed in several styles ranging from neoclassical to cubist and reveal his versatility. These include his variations on works by masters before him, such as Trois Baigneuses III (Three Bathers III) that pays tribute to Paul Cezanne’s work by the same title; and humorous works such as Vieux peintre avec une adolescente (Older Painter and seated nude wearing a brassier). Another important work is Figures/Personnages, which marks the start of Picasso’s famous Blue Period.
 
The works by Salvador Dali seem to pay tribute to an important movement in Modern European theatre – Theatre of the Absurd. Theatre of the Absurd was closely associated to the other ‘isms’ that Dali was occupied with at the time – Surrealism, Dadaism and Existentialism.  In the works that are part of this exhibition we see Dali’s muted and rather poignant take on it.
 
Pablo Picasso (1881 to 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, print maker, ceramicist, stage designer, poet and playwright who spent most of his adult life in France. As one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore. Among his most famous works are the proto-Cubist Les Demoiselles d'Avignon (1907), and Guernica (1937), a portrayal of the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

Picasso, Henri Matisse and Marcel Duchamp are regarded as the three artists who most defined the revolutionary developments in the plastic arts in the opening decades of the 20th century, responsible for significant developments in painting, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics.
 
Salvador Dali (1904 to 1989) was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, in the Catalonia region of Spain. Dalí was a skilled draftsman, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist work. His painterly skills are often attributed to the influence of Renaissance masters. His best-known work, The Persistence of Memory, was completed in August 1931. Dalí's expansive artistic repertoire included film, sculpture, and photography, in collaboration with a range of artists in a variety of media.
 
For further information,  contact art@vadehraart.com or +91 11 24622545/24615368.

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Psychic Exhibition by Nidhi Agarwal at Nature Morte From Feb. 21

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Nature Morte is pleased to present a solo show of recent works by Nidhi Agarwal. A native of New Delhi, Nidhi Agarwal creates art works that straddle all of the usual definitions: abstract and figurative, painting and drawing, spontaneous and premeditated, real and fantastical, the raw and the cooked. Her works combine the emotional punch of Expressionism with the critical commentary of Pop. Colorful, energetic and at times disturbing, her works are the honest expressions of a young woman living in urban India today.  

Born in 1972, Nidhi Agarwal studied painting at the College of Art, New Delhi and has had solo shows of her work at Art Konsult Gallery (1999) and Dhoomimal Gallery (2009), both in New Delhi.

Rather than her own statement, the artist has chosen the words of the famous children's book author Dr. Seuss to explain her practice:

"I like nonsense it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."

Nature Morte is located in the Retail Concourse of The Oberoi Gurgaon and is open every day, from 11am to 9pm. For more information contact Gary Jacob at (0124) 4010443 or Rajeev Dhawan at (011) 4068-7117.

February 21 to March 16, 2014   Gallery hours: 11 am to 9 pm daily.   NATURE MORTE   "The Oberoi Gurgaon"   443, Udyog Vihar Ph-V   Gurgaon-122016, India  info@naturemorte.com   www.naturemorte.com

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'Parikrama: Around Gandhi' Exhibition on SH Raza’s 92nd Birthday Eve

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Vadehra Art Gallery is pleased to present Parikrama: Around Gandhi, opening on February  21, 2014 at Vadehra Art Gallery, D-40 Defense Colony, New Delhi, an exhibition of the Modernist Master’s new works executed after his return to India in 2010. 

Raza saw Mahatma Gandhi in a public meeting in Mandla, his hometown in Madhya Pradesh, when he was 8 years old. This ‘darshan’ left an indelible mark on him. Whenever he visited Delhi from Paris between 1950 and 2010, Raza visited Rajghat to pay respect to the great soul at his samadhi. He has always been inspired by Gandhian deeds, concepts and words.  Since his return to Delhi, Raza has been working on a series inspired by the teachings of Gandhi. He explores them in his own inimitable style without falling into traps of representation or illustration. They are tributes to a great human being by a master of our times.  

In conjunction with the exhibition and the artist’s birthday, Vadehra Art Gallery in association with The Raza Foundation will release two books Raza: A Journey of the Master and Geysers. The Ambassador of France François Richier has graciously consented to launch these books on 22 February 2014 at the Embassy of France in New Delhi.  Raza: A Journey of the Master is a collectors’ delight with about 100 large, high quality prints of the artist’s important works. A limited number of books will have prints with the artist’s signature on it. Geysers is a book of correspondence between Raza and fellow artists and critic friends: Akbar Padamsee, Bal Chhabda, E. Schlesinger, FN Souza, Gaintonde, Laxman Pai, MF Husain, Ram Kumar, RV Leyden, Tyeb Mehta and Walter Langhammar.

Arun Vadehra (Managing Director, Vadehra Art Gallery) said, "Raza is a great colourist as well as a master of form. Not many artists in the world can orchestrate colours the way he can akin to a composer who conducts various musicians effortlessly.

Fascinating is that ,there is a tonality so masterfully achieved on the canvas,which not only happens automatically but is also rooted in his in-depth study of Indology, from where the concept of seed or Bindu comes which ultimately gives rise to the entire universe."

SH Raza was born in Babaria, Madhya Pradesh, in 1922. He studied at Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai, and Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris. 

His awards include: Padma Bhushan by the Government of India (2007); Lalit Kala Ratna Puraskar by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (2004); Padma Shri by the Government of India (1981); the Kalidas Sanman National Award by Government of Madhya Pradesh (1981); the Prix de la Critique (1956); the Gold Medal by Bombay Art Society (1948); the Silver Medal Bombay Art Society (1946). 

His important solo exhibitions include: Antardhwani, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi (2013); Bindu Vistaar, Grosvenor Gallery, London (2012); Punaragaman, Vadehra Art Gallery and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (2011); Raza – A Retrospective, Saffronart, New York in association with Berkeley Square Gallery (2007); Celebrating 85 Years of Living Legend S H Raza, a Traveling Exhibition at Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, Mumbai, New Delhi, organized  by Aryan Art Gallery, New Delhi (2007); Retrospective 1952-91, Palais Carnles, Musee de Menton, France (1991); Solo show, Galleria Matuzia, San Remo, Italy (1975); Solo show, Worth Ryder Art Gallery, Berkeley, University of California, California, USA (1962). 

His important group exhibitions include: Ram Kumar and the Bombay Progressives: The Form and the Figure Part II, Aicon Gallery, New York (2013); Des duos et des couples, Aixen Provence, France (with Pablo Picasso and Francoise Gillot) (2003); Tryst with Destiny, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai (1997); L’ Estampe Aujourd’hui, Bibliotheque Nationale: Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporian, Grand Palais, Paris (1978). 

His international participations include: Transition, 20th Anniversary Show, Centre of International Modern Art(CIMA), Kolkata (2013-14); Roots in the Air, Branches Below:Modern & Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose (2011); From Everyday To The Imagined: Modern Indian Art, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore and at Museum of Art, Seoul National University, Seoul (2007-08); International Biennale de Dakar. 

Vadehra Art Gallery is a leading Indian contemporary art gallery, based in New Delhi with a unique offering - hosting regular exhibitions from both established and emerging artists, with a publishing arm, a Gallery Book Store, and the FICA Research Fellowship programme, as well as an international affiliation with Grosvenor Vadehra in London. Since its inception in 1987, Vadehra Art Gallery (VAG) has promoted contemporary Indian art through exhibitions, retrospectives, publications and educational programmes. Over the last 20 years, the gallery has become the locus through which the works of both modern and contemporary artists have reached the public. VAG’s position as an artistic interlocutor with the public is especially vital in contemporary India because of the lack of a vibrant art museum culture.

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RSA Conference USA 2014 in San Francisco

Event title	RSA Conference USA 2014
Date	February 24–28
Location	The Moscone Center, San Francisco
Type	Trade Show/Exhibit
Audience	Information security professionals
Description	Five full days of educational training from experienced industry practitioners. It is widely regarded as the world’s leading forum for enterprise and technical information security professionals.
Highlights	http://www.rsaconference.com/events/us14
Sponsor	Greg Bell

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15th GARP Risk Management Convention in New York

Event title	GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) 15th Annual Risk Management Convention
Date	March 4–5
Location	New York
Type	Trade Show/Exhibit
Audience	CRO, CFO, head of risk IT, CIO, CEO, members of boards of directors
Description	This two-day program aims to equip a new cadre of technically and professionally educated risk managers in sessions that offer expert opinion, and promote an exchange of ideas, and a selection of targeted, in-depth track sessions on critical issues.
Highlights	http://www.garp.org/events/about-events.aspx
Sponsor	Jim Negus

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IAOP: The 2014 Outsourcing World Summit Kicks Off

Event title	IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals): The 2014 Outsourcing World Summit
Date	February 17–19
Location	Orlando
Type	Trade Show/Exhibit
Audience	CEOs, COOs, CFOs, professionals from HR, Finance, Purchasing, Legal, Administration, IT, Facilities,  Manufacturing, Logistics, and Delivery from across the outsourcing industry
Description	The Summit’s program will challenge and educate attendees, providing essential insights on the latest developments which are shaping the outsourcing industry.
Highlights	http://www.iaop.org/content/23/154/1099/
Sponsor	Cliff Justice

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Samar Jodha’s OUTPOST Art Exhibition Open Till Feb. 28

Samar Jodha’s OUTPOST Art Exhibition 

Report by Santanu Ganguly: The Italian Cultural Center presents Samar Singh Jodha’s OUTPOST- Black & White Fine Art Photography Exhibition in New Delhi, which is open till February 28, 2014.

Samar would be happy to share insights about the exhibition, enthusiasm towards presenting key installation from Venice Biennale and going forward bringing the entire 1& 1/2 ton show from Venice later this year.

Please find attached Samar’s key work and artist statement of Black & White Fine Art Photography Exhibition- OUTPOST.

Jodha's current project OUTPOST is a visual disquisition on spontaneous individual expression in a rapidly homogenizing global culture. Jodha deploys a pictorial trope of discarded containers fashioned into habitat by miners in India's pristine Northeast. Along with the B&W Fine Art Photography, the exhibition presents a "show stopper" installation that was featured recently at the prestigious platform of Venice Biennale 2013.

Jodha foregrounds his work with people given to excavating precious minerals from the earth’s womb to keep the engines of the same mass culture and industry running, adds poignant irony to his endeavour. Broken people represent the interplay of narratives, along with their robust expression, unraveling the threads of a global technopoly that promises a rosy future to many of us via rapid innovation, while simultaneously condemning many others to centuries-old regression.

In deploying photographic imagery as the foundation stone of this work, Jodha summons a visual discourse that is rooted in documentary practice, yet is scarcely mimetic of that art form.

Samar Singh Jodha is an artist who over the last twenty years has been using
 photography and film to address various issues like development, human rights and conservation. His work has been showcased in galleries and museums in Mumbai, Delhi, Barcelona, Boston, Frankfurt, London, New York, Queensland and Washington DC.His 40foot installation Bhopal-A Silent Picture was showcased by Amnesty International at the 2012 London Olympics.

Jodha’s eight-year long project on ageing in India remains the single biggest social communication project in terms of outputs and outreach. Extracts of it were showcased at Whitechapel Gallery, London and Fotomuseum, Zurich in 2010.

OUTPOST is a visual disquisition on spontaneous individual expression in a rapidly homogenizing global culture. Jodha deploys a pictorial trope of discarded containers fashioned into habitat by miners in India's pristine northeast.

Artist Samar Singh Jodha’s latest enterprise is a visual disquisition on a global culture where individual aesthetic notions are framed by commercial interests, and homogenized to such a degree by mass media that spontaneous individual expressions often emerge as accidental bi-products of non-aesthetic pursuits.

He highlights this unusual state of affairs via a pictorial trope of discarded containers fashioned into habitat by miners in India’s pristine northeast. The fact that Jodha foregrounds his work with a people given to excavating precious minerals from the earth’s womb to keep the engines of the same mass culture and industry running, adds poignant irony to his endeavor. The interplay of narratives represented by a broken people and their robust expression unravels the threads of a global technopoly that promises a rosy future to many of us via rapid innovation, while simultaneously condemning many others to centuries-old regression.

In deploying photographic imagery as the foundation stone of this work, Jodha summons a visual discourse that is rooted in documentary practice, yet is scarcely mimetic of that art form. As a seasoned artist, he is all too aware of its diminished power in the post-modern era. There is therefore a double dispossession at play here. The sliver of optimism in this work is a notion that art-making is too precious a gift to be restricted only to the virtuoso.

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Forms & Lumiere Exhibition by Patrick Rimoux in Delhi From Feb. 2

Report by Santanu Ganguly: Patrick Rimoux is a contemporary artist and engineer, who works primarily with French technologies. As a light sculptor, Rimoux modulates light & uses it as an artistic medium. Known for his town monuments, Rimoux will light up Alliance Francaise and light show can be viewed every evening from 6:30 pm-9 pm.

Rimoux’s projection on Alliance Francaise have been inspired by five different elements: Architecture, Rangoli  of light, Kaleidoscope of his recent paintings in Jaipur city, Seasons and richness of Bollywood cinema.  

Rimoux’s projects are primarily urban sized and he works with well directed spaces and architectural ensembles to integrate light into the urban landscape. He uses light reflection to make his integration look organic & natural.

About the Exhibition “Formes & Lumiere”:

Formes & Lumiere showcases 3 aspects of Patrick’s works:

1.      Photographs of his works

2.      Video installation & projection

3.      His artistic work which focuses on cinematography films that crystallize the question of revealing light- Patrick has used raw 35 mm film material and has painted on these negatives’ to  highlight different aspects of projecting light.

Patrick Rimoux, born 17 March 1958 in France, is a light sculptor. He lives in Paris where he runs the Patrick Rimoux Agency.

Patrick Rimoux is a contemporary artist and engineer, who works primarily with new French technologies. As a light sculptor, Rimoux modulates light and uses it as an artistic medium. Known for his town monuments, he has also exhibited his work at the Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris, the Galerie Valérie Bach in Brussels, and the Matthieu Foss Gallery in Bombay.

A graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure with a technological education, Rimoux also trained as an engineer at the Beaux Arts in Paris, where he studied at the studio of Claude Viseux. Meeting with Henri Alekan for the project Paths of Light was an important step in his artistic career because it helped define light as his medium of choice.

Rimoux's projects are primarily urban sized; he works with light at the city level. Rimoux works with well-directed public spaces and architectural ensembles to integrate light into the urban landscape. He uses light reflection to make this integration look organic and natural.

Rimoux has worked on the “Grand Place” in Brussels, dresses the front of the French Embassy in New York, and created the scenography of light around the “Centre Pompidou-Metz”.

Rimoux collaborated with the composer Louis Dandrel for the Garden of Sound and Light at La Borie, Limoges.

Rimoux produces light works for special events. Making himself the third component of staging, he accompanied his light dance performances as Cayenne in Dancing the City. He also illustrated the scene where Phaedra represented India alongside astrid-bas.com Astrid Bas and George Lavaudant.

Rimoux has participated in several festivals, such as the Eclectic Rocamadour and the Festival of the Word at Charity Sur Loire, where he created a work that showed the figure of Cardinal de Bernis.

Rimoux uses his knowledge of new technologies, innovative designs, and new lighting techniques, and theatrical light modulation to create his designs. One such design was a light piece for the Freedom Towers in Soweto, South Africa. The sculpture, commissioned by Nelson Mandela, consists of five black concrete columns mingled with nine white concrete columns. Dimming carried on these surfaces creates the movement of colors, making a meaningful sculpture. Another of Rimoux's designs was lighting of the Rue de la Loi, where he created customized "poles of light".

His personal artistic work focuses on cinematography films that crystallize the question of revealing light. In France, he worked with the raw 35mm film material of Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke, and Akira Kurosawa. In 2010, exposure in the Baudoin Lebon gallery led him to work with the actress Sandrine Bonnaire.

While in India, staying at the guest house at the Alliance Française and the Embassy of France in Delhi, Rimoux discovered the riches of Bollywood cinema, especially in regards to light and how it affixes to film, opening spaces that appear to be colored distillation of the atmosphere of the country. Rimoux was so taken with Bollywood that in 2011 and 2012 he exhibited several works at the exhibition of the India Art Fair in Delhi. His last biggest light work in Delhi was seen at Jantar Mantar during Bonjour India 2013 Festival organised by Embassy of France in India and Alliance Française in India.

Exhibition on view: 

Februaary 2–9, 2014, 11am till 9pm

At Galerie Romain Rolland, Alliance Française de Delhi, 72 Lodi Estate, New Delhi-3

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Homelands, Year's Most Anticipated Exhibition, Reaches Bengaluru in July 2013‏

Report by Santanu Ganguly: The exhibition will open on 5th July 2013 at 6.00 pm at the NGMA Bengaluru. Curator Latika Gupta and exhibiting UK artist Suki Dhanda will be both be present at the opening.

Homelands Exhibition in Bengaluru‏

‘Homelands A 21st Century Story of Home, Away, and All the Places In Between’, the year’s most anticipated contemporary art exhibition will make its final stop this July in Bengaluru after traveling across the country through Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The exhibition has been exceptionally well received throughout its India tour. The exhibition will be open to the public from 6th July to 14th August 2013. Open 10 am to 5pm, closed Mondays and national holidays.

Homelands grapples with the relationship between self and place in a world of transitory identities and contested geographies. Culled from the extensive art collection of the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for educational and cultural relations, the exhibition is a unique take on contemporary British art by the Indian curator, Latika Gupta.

Including more than 80 works by leading modern and contemporary artists, the show excavates the idea of a ‘homeland’ to reveal a rich plurality of meaning; ideas of belonging, alienation, history and memory.

Works by 28 of the world’s leading contemporary artists from the British Council Collection will be showcased at the exhibition.

Angus Boulton | Fabien Cappello | Lisa Cheung | Nathan Coley | Jeremy Deller | Suki Dhanda | Jimmie Durham | Paul Graham | Graham Gussin | Mona Hatoum | Anthony Haughey | Tim Hetherington | Susan Hiller | David Hockney | Anthony Lam | Langlands & Bell | Richard Long | Rachel Lowe | Haroon Mirza | Raymond Moore | Cornelia Parker | Martin Parr | Grayson Perry | Zineb Sedira | George Shaw | David Shrigley | Bob and Roberta Smith | Gillian Wearing.

From this esteemed group of contemporary artists, there are 9 Turner Prize winners and nominees namely Jeremy Deller (winner, 2004), Richard Long (winner, 1989), Grayson Perry (winner, 2003), Gillian Wearing (winner, 1997), Mona Hatoum (nominee, 1995), Langlands & Bell (nominee, 2004), George Shaw (nominee, 2011), Cornelia Parker (nominee, 1997) and David Shrigley (nominee, 2013). Tim Hetherington was the winner of World Press Photo in 2007.

The British Council invited four of the showcasing artists to visit the exhibition in India including Mona Hatoum, Anthony Haughey, Zineb Sedira and Suki Dhanda. The artist Suki Dhanda will be in Bengaluru for the opening of Homelands and during her stay in the city, she will deliver a series of public lectures and conduct workshops at local art institutions.

At the “Homelands’ exhibition Suki Dhanda is showcasing four thought provoking photographs (Untitled, 2002) from her Shopna series. Shopna, a 15 year old Bangladeshi-British girl was photographed with her friends and family over the course of a year in order to explore nuances of the public and private lives of British-Muslims in the UK. Through individual experiences, broader political and social realities of minority groups have been explored.

‘Homelands’ has rolled out a multi-layered programme that includes public exhibitions in four major metros (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru), artist talks, seminars, curator-led walks, outreach activities and workshops.

Supported by a network of public-private partnerships initiated by the British Council, Homelands epitomises a new and innovative funding model for public art in India. Key partners helping to bring the pan-Indian exhibition together include Jaguar, Christie’s and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. The outreach programme, additionally supported by Outset India, focused on developing and cultivating unique, local partnerships and encouraging dialogue and collaboration between Indian and UK institutions.

“Homelands’ has been British Council’s flagship arts project this year and it has had a very successful tour of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata before its conclusion here in Bengaluru. More than 50,000 people have visited the exhibition and it’s exciting because it introduces work by 28 brilliant British artists to India and it demonstrates the value of international collaboration, with Latika Gupta offering a uniquely Indian slant on a British art collection.

But most of all, it’s exciting because it asks such fundamental questions about a world that’s changing in front of our eyes, about the sometimes bewildering identity crisis that, for so many of us, constitutes modern life. Homelands demonstrates that art can help us learn about the world around us: but also, that it can help us learn about ourselves.” – Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India

“The ‘Homelands’ exhibition will showcase the very best art being produced by leading contemporary artists in Britain – a fitting juxtaposition to our international sales of works by their South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art contemporaries. The exhibition is an opportunity for us to lend our support to cultural and educational opportunities which are important milestones in the Indian cultural agenda for 2013.” - Menaka Kumari-Shah, Christie’s Head of India.

“Jaguar cars are renowned the world over for their contemporary designs and stunning great looks and I believe that art can have the same impact on people's lives. The ‘Homelands’ exhibition will provide the Indian art connoisseurs with an opportunity to access great work from globally recognised artists, and we are delighted to support that.” - Rohit Suri, VP, Jaguar Land Rover India.

“Outset India was set up to provide a platform for contemporary art in India. By supporting the extensive ‘Homelands’ outreach programme - which includes workshops, public talks, and education initiatives – we will be able to offer much needed support to both artists and arts organisations across the country, during this truly exciting time for contemporary art in India.” - Feroze Gujral, Director, Outset India

“Today, many of us move across national boundaries. We are born in one country, we make another our home. In the criss-crossing of political, social and cultural borders, we live our lives through hyphenated identities: belonging here and there; inhabiting multiple places - both physical and metaphorical. Geographies that can be mapped as inter/national boundaries and as places conjured up by through remembering and imagining. What constitutes a homeland? Is it ethnicity? Language?

Religion? Customs and beliefs? Are homelands those in which our ancestors were born? What of outsiders who live and make other lands their homes? Where do we really belong? Where is it that we hope to one day return?” said, Latika Gupta, Curator of the exhibition.

The British Council is the UK's international organisation for cultural and educational relations. We work in more than 100 countries worldwide to build engagement and trust through the exchange of knowledge and ideas. In India, the British Council is a division of the British High Commission and works in the arts, education and society and English.

Collaboration underpins everything the British Council does in India: from fostering educational and research links between universities to forging connections between the brightest emerging creative entrepreneurs, to supporting collaborations between arts organisations, we work with myriad partners in both countries to build bridges between India and the UK. For details of our work in India, kindly visit www.britishcouncil.in

Spread over an area of 3.5 acres, NGMA Bengaluru is one among the three prestigious national galleries of modern art at Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. The complex has apart from the old Manikyavelu Mansion with a gallery space of 1551 sq. mtr, a new Gallery Block with additional gallery space of 1260 sq. mtr. The new architecture is so designed, that while meeting the requirement of additional space, it coexists in harmony with the style and ambience of the traditional mansion. Equipped with a refurbished auditorium, an open tantalising space, a museum shop, an art reference library and a cafeteria, the NGMA is a place where art activities and various cultural events are held regularly.

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Events in New York in May 2013

Report by Afzal Ali, New York: Find the list of all the important events happening in and around New York in May 2013. New Year Events May 2013 Calendar includes concerts, music and dance, films and plays, fairs and festivals, seminars and conferences, exhibitions and expos, art, sports and business events.

Statue of Liberty

Events in New York in May 2013:

Concerts:

• Rihanna Concerts at Barclays Center, NY From May 4–5
• James Blake Live at Terminal 5, New York
• The Thermals Concerts at Bowery Ballroom, NY
• Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith ‘Ten Freedom Summers’ NY Concert
• Palma Violets Concerts in New York From May 9–10
• Ghost B.C. to Haunt Webster Hall, New York on May 11
• ‘Liars’ Concerts in New York From May 18–19
• Guitarist Joe Bonamassa to Perform at Beacon Theater, NY
• The Killers, Tegan and Sara Concerts in New York
• Rock Band ‘Paramore’ to Play at Hammerstein Ballroom, NY
• ‘Fall Out Boy’ Concert at Terminal 5, New York
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Bass Drum of Death Live at Terminal 5
• ‘The Dandy Warhols’ New York Concert on May 31
• Futurebirds Live at Bowery Ballroom, New York on May 31

Business:

• NYC to Host Conversational Marketing Summit 2013
• NYC UserConf 2013 at Scholastic Auditorium on May 3
• Women Entrepreneurs Rock the World 2013 in NYC
• Parallax Art Fair 2013 in New York From May 11–12
• NYC to Host Author World VIP Red Carpet Reception on May 31
• Small Business Expo 2013 in New York City on May 16

Art:

• Parallax Art Fair 2013 in New York From May 11–12
• Washington Square Outdoor Art Exhibit 2013
• Lower East Side Festival of Arts in New York From May 24–26
• New York to Host Broadway Beauty Pageant 2013 on May 20

Music & Dance:

• Rihanna Concerts at Barclays Center, NY From May 4–5
• New York City Fleet Week 2013 From May 23–30
• American Ballet Theater 2013 Spring Season From May 13–July 6
• The Great GoogaMooga 2013 at Prospect Park, NY From May 17–19
• Electric Daisy Carnival 2013 in New York From May 17–18

Films & Plays:

• American Ballet Theater 2013 Spring Season From May 13–July 6
• Thrilling Adventure Hour at Bell House, NY on May 11

Food:

• Queens Taste 2013 at Citi Field, New York on May 14
• The Great GoogaMooga 2013 at Prospect Park, NY From May 17–19

Sports:

• TD Five Boro Bike Tour 2013 in New York on May 5

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