Talented contemporary Indian artists in ‘Concurrent India’

‘Concurrent India’ at Helsinki City Art Museum in Finland along with Kulturhuset, Stockholm features works by Archana Hande, Chitra Ganesh, Gigi Scaria, Hema Upadhyay, Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N, Reena Saini Kallat, Riyas Komu, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Thukral & Tagra etc. Their key themes include the status of women and the life of the weakest members of society or of those detached from it altogether.

Chitra Ganesh highlights alternative lifestyles and figures omitted from official histories and mythologies. Pushpamala N terms her photographs ‘photo romances’ that she herself stages and directs. The figures in them are based on popular imagery. Sheba Chhachhi has snapped images of holy female ascetics across India for close to a decade.

Reena Saini Kallat highlights in her art the fates of individuals, while simultaneously addressing the traumas of entire communities. Her installation ‘Preface’ shows the preamble of the Indian constitution in Braille (to underscore the constitution’s promise of equality). The text projected on the book was made from frozen donated blood samples.

Hema Upadhyay recounts stories in which a person is searching for one’s place and roots. In the works ‘Killing Site IV’ and ‘Sleep–Dream–Sleep’, threatening mood and violent horror combine with the beauty of traditional Indian ornamentation. The recurring themes in Nalini Malani’s oeuvre are the oppressed status of women, war, economic exploitation and the environmental degradation, whereas Shilpa Gupta's art revolves around terrorism, human rights, religion, social classification and resultant insecurity. Archana Hande’s ‘www.arrangeurownmarriage.com’ makes a quirky comment on the marriage institution worldwide.

Gigi Scaria explores the connections between urban location and social class. Riyas Komu’s works contain a strong political message. Terror, war, chauvinism and exploitation form their core. The installation ‘Escaped! …while I Was Cooking’ by Thukral & Tagra is about bitter disappointment and sad fates. Vivan Sundaram’s practice takes a stand on environmental issues as well as on behalf of the disadvantaged. The sculptures of Valay Shende bear a resemblance to luxury goods, yet their topic is the everyday worries of people in an urbanizing India.