Monday, August 15, 2011

Looking back at ‘Freedom to March' show on the eve of India's Independence Day

Looking back at ‘Freedom to March Rediscovering Gandhi through Dandi’' show on the eve of India's Independence Day:

Mahatma Gandhi has inspired and influenced many artists, prompting them to creatively express his contribution to India's Independence and to propagate the philosophy of non-violence. A show at Lalit Kala Akademi courtesy Ojas Art celebrated his monumental Dandi March.

‘Freedom to March: Rediscovering Gandhi through Dandi’ hosted last year was comprised of a series of novel artistic interpretations of the salt march. India’s leading contemporary artists capture the spirit that resulted in a historic journey almost eight decades ago. The artists included A. Ramachandran, Alok Bal, Atul Dodiya, Jagannath Panda, KG Subramanyan, Arunkumar H.G., Hindol Brahmbhatt, KM Madhusudhan, Manjunath Kamath, KS Radhakrishnan, Prasad Raghavan, TV Santosh, Murali Cheroot, Vikcy Roy and Sumedh Rajendran.

Anubhav Nath along with Johny M.L. curated the exhibition on the historic event led by Gandhi. The curators were quoted as saying that political resistance, urbanization, and violence are the three primary influences steering contemporary reality art in India. As a political icon, the Mahatma Gandhi shares a direct relation with the three aspects. Anubhav Nath elaborated in an interview:

"Gandhi will not be translated in imagery; but aspects of his persona, contribution to India, philosophy and the fact of what Gandhi is all about will be interpreted by the artists. The works will resonate with what the artists thought on their way to Dandi and how it relates to contemporary India."

It was on March 12, 1930 that Gandhi left the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad for Dandi, launching a non-violent campaign against the British salt tax. The march turned out to be a major symbolic act in India’s tumultuous political history. The commissioned works are based on inspirations and inspirations formed in the course of field visits to the ashram and Dandi. Twenty of them camped in villages en route Dandi.

The gamut of works on view included installations, video art, sculptures, photographs, and paintings.

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