Prominent themes of ‘Indian Highway’ at Maxxi

The grand international traveling exhibition of contemporary Indian art at MAXXI: Museum of XXI Century Arts in Rome can be divided into three distinct macro areas:

One of them is ‘Indian Identity and Histories’. It largely investigates political, social and religious themes, such as the war between India and Pakistan, the religious struggles, the transience of the national borders. Among the works on show are the large painting by M.F. Husain (who recently passed away), considered a pioneer and path breaker on the Indian art scene for well over 70 years, to whom the exhibition is dedicated).

The works on view refers to the tumultuous socio-political events like gruesome terrorist attacks in Mumbai in November 2008. On the other hand, ‘The Lightning Testimonies’, a video by artist Amar Kanwar, recounts the ongoing war between India-Pakistan through the tragic testimonies of raped women. ‘I Love My India’, another video by Tejal Shah, deals with the issue of repression of minority community during the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002.

An interesting creation by Shilpa Gupta, ‘100 Hand Drawn Maps of India’ reflects the sense of insecurity and the instability that prevails across the national borders. The disturbing installation by the artist ‘Untitled – Skewers’ is consisted of 185 lances that loom from the ceiling and arouse a sense of fear. Another prominent theme of ‘Indian Highway’ at Maxxi is ‘Exploding Metropolises’ that examines rampaging urban expansion and chaos and the resultant abandonment of the remote rural areas.

The symbol of the exhibit, so to say, the wonderful wallpaper installation ‘Dream Villa 11’ by artist Daynita Singh is virtually a luminous sign repeated for close to 80 meters on the venue’s external wall almost at the first floor level: it essentially reproduces a contemporary metropolis view from above, enveloped in a blue light, with the great highways akin to rivers of fire. ‘Contemporary Tradition’ is the third distinct theme as part of ‘Indian Highway’ show at Maxxi.