India art heads for the shores of Venice

   For the first time in the history of the 116-year-old Venice Biennale, the most prestigious art fair in the world, India will mark its national presence. A national pavilion at the Biennale, whose 54th edition will be hosted at the Italian city of canals from June 4 to November 27, is a significant move forward in the increasing global presence that is Indian art.

   The India showcase, titled ‘Everyone Agrees: It’s About To Explode’, has been put together by art historian and curator Ranjit Hoskote and features the works of New York-based Zarina Hashmi, New Delhi’s Gigi Scaria, Praneet Soi, who divides his time between Kolkata and Amsterdam and the Guwahati based Desire Machine Collective of Sonal Jain and Mriganka Madhukaillya.
   “Works by Indian artists have been shown earlier individually at the Biennale, but the national pavilion is a first and it’s an opportunity for us to showcase the idea of India,” says Mumbai-based Hoskote. He says he chose not to have the usual suspects and instead picked up other artists who are equally talented but haven’t yet got the kind of international exposure they deserve. “These are the artists who have already made a splash on the experimental art scene,” says Hoskote, admitting it was difficult to choose just four out of the many options he had. “But we didn’t want to distract the audience at the Biennale by offering too much; it would have become noise instead of a clear signal about Indian art,” Hoskote adds.

 

   The Biennale is not a commercial enterprise but an opportunity for the international art fraternity to showcase freely the best art it has on offer, without the pressures of the market looming on their mindscape. “It’s an intellectual exchange among the members of the art world with collateral events giving opportunities to them to brainstorm,” says Hoskote. The art fraternity is excited about the 57-year-old Lalit Kala Akademi’s participation at the prestigious art showcase. Says the Akademi’s chairman, Ashok Vajpeyi, “I was there at the last edition and was shocked to see that we weren’t represented.

   There are countries that have permanent pavilions at the Biennale with their own buildings. India’s presence was needed at Venice, especially at a time when the country’s art is in a ferment.” Vajpeyi adds that the government responded well to the Akademi’s initiative and because of some quick initial action, they managed to get a prime location in Venice, at Arsenale, which gets maximum attention.