The India Pavilion at the ongoing Fifth Beijing Biennale art exhibition, Beijing is creating a splash.
In a country popular for its vibrant culture and art forms, leading contemporary artistes from India have been drawing huge response for their work.
Intrinsic character
With their intrinsic Indian character in a blend of contemporary interpretation to the traditional, mythological and social content, the 26 artworks including two video works done on canvases, created specially for the exhibition by 11 leading artists from across India, have drawn highest number of visitors, says Lalit Kala Akademi Secretary Sudhakar Sharma. The Art exhibition opened on September 28 and will be on till October 22.
The Indian pavilion represents the diverse art forms, painting, sculptures, calligraphy, audio and video depictions and a combination of all art forms with Indian ethos but universality as core element. The beauty of the artists’ work is that they religiously stuck to the given theme ‘Future and Reality’ and the clarity in execution has won appreciation, Mr. Sharma notes.
In a country renowned for its calligraphy art, Poosapati Parameshwar Raju’s exploitation of the calligraphic medium to bring to the fore the classic motifs in a new light have also been attracting attention.
Mr. Raju, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, in his works depicted timelessness of the Vedas. In another work titled ‘Sun’ to celebrate the winter solstice or ‘Makar Sankranti’, the vibrant strokes of his work generate a rhythm suggestive of the beginning of life, its continuance and its end.
Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi has taken the Indian special exhibition in response to a privileged invitation. “India is one of the four countries, among 84 participating countries, that have been given a country pavilion to exhibit its art forms,” Dr. Sudhakar Sharma said.
“It was the outcome of the dialogue between the Akademi and China Artists Association, with the proposal for holding reciprocal art events among the two nations, a reiteration of symbiotic relationship,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu . China too will bring a strong contingent of contemporary art to the forthcoming India Triennale in 2013, he said.
Media coverage
The works by leading contemporary artists Anju Dodiya, Chittrovanu Mazumdar, K.K. Muhammed, N.N. Rimzon, Poosapati Parameshwar Raju, K.S Radhakrishnan, Riyas Kommu, Seema Kohli, Suman Gupta, Vijay Bagodi and Deepak Govindrao Shinde were extensively covered by Chinese media and the Art magazines.
Some of the lauded works are Seema Kohli’s offer of multi-coloured butterfly installation where the forms are not just decorative in nature but also express deep-seated metaphysical statements as well. Riyas Kommu’s art in his video work, the Gandhian throwback in the work of Vijay Bagodi were other interesting fare.
