Contemporary Art, the Taj Mahal & more.

A few days ago we finished the instruction portion of our trip, which consisted of a lot of lectures at USEFI (United States Education Foundation in India). From this point forward, we will be participating in the “fieldwork” portion of our trip, which will include visiting historical sites, palaces, tombs, gardens, and much, much more. All the while, I have a specific project that I have to research and collect data for.
The topic of my project is Contemporary Art in India with an emphasis on Feminist Art. Specifically, I am interested in learning about contemporary artists who include references to India’s ancient past, yet present these themes in a way that reflects a Post Modern approach to art-making. In addition, I am interested in discovering contemporary Indian artists, especially women, who are using the visual arts as a medium to communicate their feelings about sexism, gender roles, oppression, poverty, violence and terror in India.
Before I left for India, I was able to do a good amount of research on my topic. Of all of the resources that I found, I continued to come across the name Roobina Karode. Like Lucy Lippard is to 1st Generation Feminist Art Movement, Karode is the highest regarded critic of the Contemporary and Feminist Art Movements in India. With the help of the Fulbright Commission, I was able to get into contact with Karode a few days ago. Although we were unable to meet in person, she recommended 2 specific galleries that I should visit while in Delhi. The obvious was the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi. The other was Gallery Espace, a small gallery about 45 minutes outside of Central Delhi. I am thankful to have received this recommendation, as I never would have come across it by happenstance.
The National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi (NGMA) includes a rotating collection of 300 works by Indian artists created after 1800. It was important to visit the gallery to get a good understanding of the development of the Indian aesthetic and various artistic themes over the past 2 centuries. Throughout the gallery, I recognized various parallels with the work of Renior, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Picasso. Currently, I am not sure if Impressionism, Expressionism or Cubism had an influence on Indian artists or if the reverse is true. Also at the NGMA, I was able to see a substantial amount of artwork made during this decade. These artworks meet the specifications of my research project. Included here are various links to specific artists that I learned about at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi: Anju Dodiya (http://www.artnet.com/artist/723251/anju-dodiya.html), kallat Jitish (http://www.greatbanyanart.com/collection.asp?artistid=320&paintingid=523), Sachin Karne (http://www.paletteartgallery.com/workavailable.asp?artistid=127).


Next, I hired a driver to take me to Gallery Espace. I informed the gallery curator, Shweta Bhanot, that I was referred by Karode to visit the gallery and she personally gave me a tour. At the same time, Bhanot was extremely helpful in providing me with a large collection of artist catalogs featuring the contemporary Indian artists that Gallery Espace has represented over the past few years. My visit was very worthwhile and I discovered a great deal about various contemporary Indian artists, including the current market value for their artwork. Bhanot was especially generous in taking the time to burn me a CD of high quality images of the artists/artwork represented by Gallery Espace. I am confident that the contact that I made with Bhanot is one that I will maintain throughout my research and beyond. Here is a link to the Gallery Espace website: http://www.galleryespace.com/contact_us.php


After my gallery visits, my driver, Gill, took me to the Bahai Lotus Temple. According to my limited understanding of it, Bahai is a philosophy, not religion. The core value of the Bahai people is unity consciousness. I have been told that the Bahai organization has only one temple on every continent. The temple in Delhi is referred to as the Taj Mahal of the 21st century. The architect designed the temple in the shape of a lotus flower, a symbol of Hinduism in India.

Today we visited the Taj Mahal in Agra. It was really amazing. I did not know that the Taj Mahal is a tomb. The Taj Mahal was designed as the burial place of San Jahan’s (the 5th King of India) third wife. Approximately 39 years later, San Jahan joined her to rest there. Our tour guide was great. He gives tours at the Taj approximately 250 days/year. You can just imagine all of the information that he knows (and likely makes up too) about the site. In addition, he knew all of the great photo spots and some cute photo tricks.

Included with this post are various other photos including: shots of children that I meet, a demonstration of marble inlay work, several Agra street scenes, and a demonstration of an ancient Indian Odessi dance.

I hope you enjoy the pictures! Tomorrow morning we are flying to Varanasi, home of the Ganges. I am so excited. I expect Varanasi to be one of the highlights of the trip. I will check back soon to share some of the things that I learn.

I miss my friends and family! Talk soon!!!!