The Bhavan Centre cordially invites you to ‘What the Body Remembers – South Asian Video Art today’ part of Asian Art in London 2009
The exhibition ‘What the Body Remembers- South Asian Video Art Today’ expresses the condition of the postcolonial subject confronted with issues of colonization, diaspora, gender, motherhood, national identity, fundamentalism and personal violence. The exhibition articulates the personal experiences of artists located in India its diaspora (including UK, Canda and USA) through the medium of video. The exhibition is also an outcome of the lived experience of Indian born curator Arshiya Lokhandwala as a South Asian, who traversed between the metropolis of Mumbai, London, Kassel and New York. In citing, observing the emergence of the postcolonial within the global discourse of art, Lokhandwala has noted growing focus on South Asian art. The exhibition attempts to highlight the changes that have occurred in the last decades through the artists work. The show unravels various influences that frame the narrative ranging from the private to the public, including a strong reflection on popular culture, Hindi cinema (Bollywood), and common everyday experience which often go unarticulated. In using the body as a site of memory, this exhibition alludes to the cultural metaphors that inhabit the body that go beyond the realm of being South Asian/ Indian or diasporic leading us to go beyond these questions and instead find a new way to engage with the issues at hand. Artists: USA: Chitra Ganesh, Jesal Kapadia , Carol Periera & Jonas Olson. Canada/ USA: Shelly Bahl. India: Tushar Joag, Justin Ponmany, Sharmila Samant, Surekha, Mithu Sen. Amsterdam: Monali Meher. UK: Hetain Patel, Darshana Vora. Arshiya Lokhandwala is a Mumbai- based independent curator, art historian working in the area of globalization of art, feminism, new media and critical theory of art. M: 00- 91 9920-676599, E: lakeeren@hotmail.com, W: www.lakeerengallery.net, Address: 122, Dial Mahal, 223, Dalamal Park, Mumbai 400005, India Dates: Oct 30: 4.30pm–8pm; Oct 31 & Nov 1: 4pm-6pm; Nov 7 & 8: 3pm-5pm Venue: The Bhavan Centre, Institute of Indian Art and Culture, 4a Castletown Road, West Kensington, London, W19HE
For further press information and images please contact: Darshana Vora, The Bhavan on 020 7381 3086 / curator@bhavan.net