Celebrating 20 years of artistic relations!

Those who think that cricket matches and reports about Indian students being attacked in Australia is all there is to where the relationship between Australia and India is concerned, needs to visit the Visual Art Gallery at IHC.

Playing host to artwork of about 117 writers, visual artists and musicians from both nations, the exhibition has been jointly organised by Australia-India Council (AIC).

The fortnight long exhibition ‘Kindness’ was inaugurated by ICCR president Dr. Karan Singh on March 16. The exhibition features the artwork of the artists who have been recipients of AIC grants over the last 20 years.

The artists include Giriraj Prasad, Alexis Wright, Ranbir Singh Kaleka, Thomas Kenneally, Robyn Beeche, Seema Kohli, Kiran Nagarkar and Jenny Watson.

Suzanne Davies, AIC board member, director and chief curator, RMIT Gallery in Melbourne, conceptualised the idea of this exhibition around two years back.

“When there was a spate of attacks on Indian students in Australia, I was really upset and thought that there is absolutely more to the relationship between the two countries.

And all this is happening because we don’t get to know each other. What can been a better way than art for this purpose,” Suzanne told Metrolife during an interaction.

The exhibition also features artworks which have been made jointly by Indian and Australian artists created as back as 1999. One particular work, titled ‘a place from where to speak’ involved two Australian aboriginal artists Djambawa Marawili and Liyawaday Wirrapanda in collaboration with Gond artists Jangarh Singh Shyam and Lado Bai who created a single large canvas with each team starting at either end of the rectangular canvas. In the words of Dr Jyotindra Jain, then director of Crafts Museum and under whom the work was commissioned, “Both teams did not speak each other’s language.

Each started the painting at extreme end of the large rectangular canvas. Hills and forested landscape peopled with semi-mythical animals and reptiles began to emerge from either side. As both teams proceeded towards the middle, there was a question of how to conclude the painting. The teams looked at each other and discussed the issue with hand and facial gestures. After arriving at an understanding, each team began to expand their world of imaginary flora and fauna into another’s territory... no empty spaces remained The unification of what were separate works until now was marvellous, the embrace gentle and not transgressive.” 

That masterpiece is not all. A series of photographs ‘Vrindavan 1989’ by Robyn Beeche are also part of the exhibition. The 67-year-old photographer has been living in Vrindavan since 1992 has sent in works revolving around the festival of Holi, unique to this city.

For those who would like to take home the exhibition in a bag, the whole has been compiled together in the form of the form of a book titled ‘Kindness/Udaarta’.