Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The New York Times maps the growth trajectory of Indian art in context of ‘India Xianzai’


We have already published excerpts from an insightful article entitled ‘Asian Interest in Indian Art Grows’, which appeared in The New York Times (Hillary Brenhouse; September 4, 2009).

The article makes a special mention of the recent ‘India Xianzai’, or ‘India Now’, held in Shanghai.

Here is what The NYT mentioned of the show:

“The Institute of Contemporary Indian Art in Mumbai was one of two Indian galleries that recently helped organize the first large-scale, public exhibition of contemporary Indian art in China, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. The show, called was a testament to the growing presence of Indian art in the country, displaying more than 60 works by 21 artists, including wall-sized installations, photography and video, spread over two floors of the museum.”


Tushar Sethi, director of ICIA, was quoted as saying:

“We’ve noticed an increasing interest from buyers all over Asia, and particularly in China, who are looking at Indian art as a diversified avenue for collection and investment."

Elaborating on the trend of growing Asian interest in Indian art, the article pointed out that ‘Fly Away Swim Closer’ by renowned Indian artist Sunil Gawde was sold for $50,000 to a Taiwanese collector at the Sakshi gallery branch based in Taipei (Incidentally, Sakshi is the first Indian gallery ever to set up in Taiwan).

Explaining how the idea struck her, the director of Sakshi, Geetha Mehra, stated, “We were starting to sell works of contemporary Indian art to Taiwanese collectors over the Internet. I thought, if I’m doing business with a few buyers, there must be more. And indeed there were...”

Tushar Sethi reaffirms the trend: “By the time ‘India Xianzai’ show closed, no fewer than eight private Chinese galleries had made approaches to express interest in teaming up with the ICIA to hold contemporary Indian shows in Shanghai next year,” he revealed in the NYT interview.

No comments:

Post a Comment