INDependent indIA

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The 60th anniversary of Indian independence, falling on August 15th serves in London, a City not usually in need of reason to celebrate, as genuine cause for celebration/reflection.

INDependent indIA, serves as a visual and written response to the notion of India, and more specifically to the notion of and ‘Indian’ artform.

Two things stand out when referring to an Indian artform: Firstly, that the term ‘Indian Art’ is a very specific one; Secondly, that the notion ‘India’, as a whole, is a multifarious one. The same, of course, could be said of an ‘Italian’ artform, or indeed a ‘European’ one.¹ The notion of a national art, as with the notion of a specifically national identity, is a cumbersome one.

INDependent indIA would like to posit the 12 Indian artists involved – all with links to the Indian subcontinent – within this context, as artists working independently around the notion of India whilst bringing into play their own personal experiences. Attention is also drawn to the way in which contrasts between Indian culture and European culture are, in a sense, complimentary. There are no island states: Even the UK, a literal island, is linked closely to the Indian subcontinent via a history of reciprocal influence that far predates British Imperialism.

A good analogy here, and one that shows clearly throughout the work on display, and on this website, can be seen in the perceived disjunction between Western culture and rationality, and Eastern culture, which is associated with the mystical/non rational. This disjunction, which can by all means be observed in cultural differences between East and West, whilst certainly existing, serves in many ways as an oversimplification of the relationship between two poles that more often than not meet in the middle. There is very much that operates by dint of ‘faith’ in a secular capitalist society – faith in the market, for example. There is very much that exists in the way of rationality, development and calculated gain in a traditionally strict spiritual system. As can be seen in much of the art shown in INDependent indIA a deep political/social urge amongst artists serves to question the negatives at both ends of the pole, whilst what is positive comes to prominence elsewhere.

Mike Watson August 2007

¹ Though, it is perhaps even more so in relation to 'India' due to its vastness and the diversity of its culture.