‘maximum India’ at Kennedy Center

To celebrate the dazzle and diversity of India, a series of exhibitions and events were just held at the Kennedy Center, NW Washington, DC. ‘Maximum India’, a magnificent event presented a kaleidoscope of many wonderful aspects of the country's rich arts and culture landscape, from folk to modern, and from classical to contemporary.

It was a mix of dance, music, theater and creative visual art by some of the most acclaimed practitioners who shared their insights. On view were incredible and unimaginable crafts from some exquisite collections; jewels from the princely era of the Maharajas and Mughals.

An accompanying note stated: “India amazes all with the majesty and mystery of its rich culture.
Its brilliance is that it’s a place of extremes - intellect, innovation, survival and constant experimentation. We traveled, researched and scoured different corners of the country to present the best it can offer, and India offers the maximum.” The festival was truly ‘maximum India’. Here is a quick at the artists and their works on view as part of the festival:

Jitish Kallat explores myriad topics ranging from family life and ancestry to meditations on the passage of time. His ‘Public Notice 2’ recalls the historic speech delivered by Mahatma Gandhi on the eve of the epic Salt March to Dandi in early 1930 through some 4,500 bone-shaped letters. Each letter of this alphabet, like a misplaced relic, holds up the image of violence even as its collective chorus makes a plea for peace to a world plagued with aggression.

Reena Saini Kallat's Falling Fables is part of a series of works whose title references architectural ruins that are disintegrating and in a state of collapse. Her paintings reference parts of the city of Delhi, where ruins from the past rub shoulders with present-day structures.

Bharti Kher creates works which often incorporate bindis--the traditional forehead decoration worn to indicate the marking of the third eye for women and men in Indian culture. Commissioned for ‘maximum INDIA’, her new work, I've Got Eyes at the Back of My Head was comprised of 5,000 vinyl bindis grouped to form targets on the surface of four windows in the Kennedy Center's Grand Foyer.

‘Hi! I am India’, an interactive playspace for children by Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra, presented interesting facts about life in modern India and dispels common stereotypes through a sticker activity station.

Jatin Das, an eminent contemporary artist, has spent decades seeking traditional crafted hand fans from provinces across India. Forty favorites picked from his collection displayed the variety of shapes, sizes, techniques, and materials used to craft this practical day-to-day item.