CCBB, Brasilia, Brazil, May 22 – July 29, 2012
SESC, Belenzinho, Brazil, February 25 – April 29, 2012
CCBB, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 25, 2011 – January 29, 2012
Artists
Baiju Parthan, Bharti Kher, G. Ravinder Reddy, Gigi Scaria, Jitish Kallat, Manjunath Kamath, Nalini Malani, Pix Foto Collective, Pushpamala N., Raqs Media Collective, Reena Kallat, Riyas Komu, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Sulekha, Thukral & Tagra, T.V. Santhosh, Vishal K Dar, Vivan Sundaram e Vivek Vilasini
The exhibition ÍNDIA – LADO A LADO [India – Side by Side], conceived for the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, presents the complexity of Indian contemporary art by way of a selection of works by more than twenty artists who live in India and are active internationally, using a range of techniques that include painting, sculpture, installation, photography and video. The participants in the show are Baiju Parthan, Bharti Kher, Gigi Scaria, Jitish Kallat, Manjunath Kamath, Nalini Malani, Pushpamala N., the Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula and Shuddha-brata Sengupta), Ravinder Reddy, Reena Kallat, Riyas Komu, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Surekha, Thukral & Tagra, T.V. Santhosh, Vishal K. Dar, Vivan Sundaram, Vivek Vilasini and the PIX Collective.
The title of the show, ÍNDIA – LADO A LADO, refers to the density and dynamics of the country's day-to-day life. India is fascinating for having more than 1.2 billion inhabitants, from over 2 thousand different ethnic groups that follow six main religions and speak any number of the country's various official languages. This entire context is engaged in constant interaction, thus giving rise to a unique society that is extremely complex in all its facets. That most of the inhabitants are less than 35 years old is a further indication of the country's vitality.
The works selected express different moments of Indian culture linked to historical, social, economic, urbanistic and other issues, wrapped up in narratives that are partly playful and simple, but also imbued by great aesthetic resolution. This show presents a unique compendium, which will intensify the dialogue and the cultural understanding between India and Brazil – two countries with a similar colonial past as well as a current perspective of great progress in the near future.
Tereza de Arruda, curator