‘Contemporary Art in India: At Home and in the World’ - II

Here is the second part of an essay by art critic Keith Wallace on Indian art and its expanding horizons:

Major survey exhibitions have taken place or are in the planning stages in cities such as Berlin, London, Paris, Milan, Vienna, and Tokyo. This relatively recent phenomenon might be yet another symptom of the growing cultural tourism that is making its way into the most obscure parts of the globe, but it is also in large measure an acknowledgement that contemporary Indian art is well qualified to be positioned within the broader international art arena.

Yet, in spite of the pressures of globalization to produce homogenous cultural commodities or what some might call work with international rather than culturally specific characteristics much contemporary art in India still turns to its own traditions, mythologies, vernacular idiosyncrasies, and cultural particularities. And artists are self-reflective about the world they directly exist in, exploring ways of tackling an encumbered past while contemplating an uncertain future.

In a society that is filled with vast inequities, startling contradictions, and complex social constructs, it is common among many artists to assume collective responsibility and bear in mind these aspects when conceptualizing their artwork. Such self-reflection does have its dangers, however, and has come under criticism from some sectors of the art world. It has primarily been directed to artists of non-Western origin who draw upon the iconography and content from their particular culture, citing it as a way of appealing to a Western desire for cultural authenticity and simultaneously kindling a market for their work.

This phenomenon manifested itself in mainland China during the past decade with not always satisfactory results; some artists catered to a demand for work that offered easily consumable Chinese motifs as a form of cultural branding. But within emerging nations that are finding themselves having to adapt to international protocol, economic systems, and even political ideologies, there is a cautionary approach to not unequivocally sell out to globalizing pressures.

Instead, many of these nations are finding ways of positioning themselves within the larger world while exploring, and affirming, where self-identity might find its sustenance. And beyond that, while the visual vocabulary employed by some Indian artists can appear superfluous, it does represent what surrounds them and reflects their everyday lives; not only as gestures of celebration, but also of cultural, social, or political critique.

(Courtesy: Richmond Art Gallery)