Subterranean Architecture: Stepwells in Western India An exhibition of 60 digital photographs by Richard Cox

Stepwells, mainly constructed centuries ago in North West India, were originally built to access the water underground and as a means to retain water from the Monsoon season. They were used as a source of survival for those living in desert states but eventually evolved into becoming gathering sites where temples and shrines were built. Stepwells served a variety of purposes to those living near them as well as to travelers needing water throughout their journey.

Since these step wells became a vital asset to the local cities and villages, some were large with great architectural detail and depth , while others were simple and mainly functional. The designs of each stepwell was largely influenced by geographic region, climate, and whether the religion of those responsible for its construction were Hindu or Muslim. Because many of those responsible for these unique wells were actually Royal Families, they were well preserved up until they were deemed a health hazard by the British Raj who did not understand the significance of the structures to the people of Western India.

The ban on their use coupled with a long drought left the stepwells abandoned and ignored for several years, however there is a resurgence of attention being brought to them by two organizations (DRONAH and INTACH) that are working to establish some of the sites to World Heritage Status. This exhibition of photographs illuminate these great historical structures and also restore and preserve the memory of what these wells meant to India.

His Story

Tamarind Art Gallery presents "His Story", an exhibit of works by Hindol Brahmbhatt. His art will be on display from June 1 through July 31.

Hindol's paintings immediately catches the audiences attention by its visually striking approach to telling the story. He incorporates a variety of materials such as wooden planks, plexiglass, and canvas. This mixed media approach along with his technique of blow-torching the wood, etching the plexiglass, and combining them in one cohesive piece creates a unique look that only an innovative artist can produce.

Beyond the visual appeal, the subject matter in itself gives a history lesson to the viewer. Including historical figures such as Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, and Ghandi of whom Hindol has been largely influenced. He uses historical figures as subjects in his works allow him to tell their stories from a new perspective. He emphasizes the fact that history in our time has become a sort of product, which is displayed well such as an exhibit. In past work he has used the images of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Gandhi by whom Brahmbatt has been heavily influenced. In reflection of his own artwork he has said, “I believe in the truth of opposites. For every argument there would be a counter-argument that can be equally valid. So I leave it to the viewers to interpret my work, and draw their own conclusions.”

CHANGE EXCHANGE

Tamarind Art Council is excited to present “Change Exchange,” an exhibition showcasing mixed media on canvas by Nitin Dutt and an installation by Lochan Upadhyay.

As an artist, Nitin Dutt’s endeavors range from sculpture, performance, drawing, painting, photo documentation, film making and architecture. Dutt’s art-making process stands witness to the passage of time as an omni present constant. Dutt’s experiences as an immigrant lurk in every layer of his colors. To Nitin, his relentless and repetitive mark-making is cathartic. The temporal component to his mark-making implicates a certain passage across the surface to register displacement and reclaim a sense of identity. Displayed canvases and installation are the end results that invite viewers to engage with Dutt's expressive quest, evoking a remarkable reaction.

Originally created for a Sandarbh workshop, Lochan Upadhyay’s installation titled “Power of Cloth” is a multi-part installation consisting of large scale wedding chairs fabricated with “katran,” video projection with sound, quilted “shamiana,” and photographic transfer on cloth. As an artist, Upadhyay has always tried to address the diversities and hierarchies that exist in Indian society. He approaches his concerns by studying different relationships and interactions that people share in a given space. For this particular body of work, Lochan has used references from his native region, Vagad, Rajasthan; a society whose customs he is very well versed with. Upadhyay’s installation is an innovative take on the issues such as caste system and “Dowry.” Existing in various forms and across many cultures, the custom of “Dowry” is just one manifestation of an old pervasive discrimination against women. The expendable female child is treated not just as inferior but also subservient, very often as the legal, economical and sexual property of men. Outlawed by constitution, Dowry still retains a foothold in most areas of India, causing concomitant disregard for daughters.

About the Artist: Yogendra M. Shah

Yogendra M. Shah, the artist currently featured at the Tamarind Art Gallery, is an Indian-born wildlife photographer who is currently working as a research affiliate at the Gir National Park in Gujarat, India. He was also recently commissioned by the Gujarat Forest Department to research the distribution and status of small rare species in the Saurastra region, a project he has been working on for over six years now.

Yogendra has actively worked with wildlife for the past 16 years after receiving his Bachelor of Commerce in Zoology at the Gujarat University of India. He also has a Masters of Science in Ecology and Environment from Manipal Sikkim University in New Delhi. Throughout his years of field experience, Yogendra has been invited to do research and photography for many big wildlife organizations in India, such as the Gujarat Forest Department and the Rajesthan Forest Department. He has worked on research projects including the waterfowl census at the Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary, the Great Indian Bustard census at Naliya, and the tiger census at Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, among others. Yogendra has traveled to many areas throughout India to examine and study India’s magnificent wildlife.

His photography has been nationally exhibited throughout India, and in 2002 he received the Wildlife Photography Award for his distinguished wildlife photography from the prestigious visual arts school, Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi. Yogendra has also made important contributions to major wildlife publications such as Important Bird Areas for the Bomaby Natural History Society and The Gir Lion by Dr. H.S. Singh. Yogendra’s show at Tamarind Art Gallery, Nature Captured, will be his first international exhibition.

Nature Captured

India’s growing population and its civic and technological expansion are rapidly threatening the countries colorful and diverse wildlife. This situation is endangering India’s biodiversity, and may possibly lead to the extinction of several unique species. In an effort to bring about an awareness of these dangerous circumstances, Tamarind Art Gallery is showcasing an expansive exhibition of sixty-three photographs of Indian wildlife. Each animal featured suffers from the threat of extinction due to land development and human exploitation of natural resources.

The show is a collection of works by professional wildlife photographer and avid conservationist, Yogendra M. Shah. Each photograph brings the elusive beauty of these creatures in their natural habitat to light. All of the images on display are available in limited edition prints from the gallery; the proceeds will go towards the World Wildlife Federation, The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, and the Wildlife Management Institute in order to conserve and protect India’s natural wildlife.

We hope that the images in this exhibition not only please your aesthetic sense but also inspire a communal sense of responsibility to protect and cherish our common natural heritage. In our modern and interconnected world, we have all become collective stakeholders despite political boundaries. Nature is so intricately interwoven that irresponsible actions taking place on any corner of the planet affect us all. These photographs serve to remind us of that essential, but all too often forgotten, truth.

The show will run from July 7th 2009 until August 8th 2009.

An Unreadable Text: Indian Art and Modernity after 1947

An Unreadable Text: Indian Art and Modernity after 1947

Tamarind Art Council is excited to host Rebecca M. Brown an associate professor of art history at Johns Hopkins University, and author of the recent book, Art for a Modern India, 1947-1980. On April 17, at 6:30 pm.

To attend please RSVP to rsvp@tamarindart.org or call 212-200-8000
For more information on Tamarind Arts Council Please visit our website www.tamarindart.org


Following India’s independence in 1947, Indian artists creating modern works of art sought to maintain a local idiom, an “Indianness” representative of their newly independent nation, while connecting to modernism, an aesthetic then understood as both universal and presumptively Western. These artists depicted India’s precolonial past while embracing aspects of modernism’s pursuit of the new, and they challenged the West’s dismissal of non-Western places and cultures as sources of primitivist imagery but not of modernist artworks. In Art for a Modern India, Rebecca M. Brown explores the emergence of a self-conscious Indian modernism—in painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, film, and photography—in the years between independence and 1980, by which time the Indian art scene had changed significantly and postcolonial discourse had begun to complicate mid-century ideas of nationalism.

Through close analyses of specific objects of art and design, Brown describes how Indian artists engaged with questions of authenticity, iconicity, narrative, urbanization, and science and technology. She explains how the filmmaker Satyajit Ray presented the rural Indian village as a socially complex space rather than as the idealized site of “authentic India” in his acclaimed Apu Trilogy, how the painter Bhupen Khakhar reworked Indian folk idioms and borrowed iconic images from calendar prints in his paintings of urban dwellers, and how Indian architects developed a revivalist style of bold architectural gestures anchored in India’s past as they planned the Ashok Hotel and the Vigyan Bhavan Conference Center, both in New Delhi. Discussing these and other works of art and design, Brown chronicles the mid-twentieth-century trajectory of India’s modern visual culture.

This will be a wonderful talk on modern and contemporary art in India and should not be missed by scholars and art lovers a like. Copies of Rebecca's Book will be available for sale.

CONTEMP-NATYAM by Jaan R. Freeman, Romona Mukherjee and student performers of Dakshina Palli, Inc. on March 21, 2008

Tamarind Art Council presented CONTEMP-NATYAM by Jaan R. Freeman, Romona Mukherjee and student performers of Dakshina Palli, Inc. on March 21, 2008

CONTEMP-NATYAM is a program which draws from the movement vocabularies of Bharata Natyam (South Indian Classical Dance) and American Modern Dance, choreographed by Dakshina's founding Director: Jaan R. Freeman. Freeman’s choreography is a combination of the highly systematized vocabulary of Bharatanatyam and the kinetic and bold approach of modern dance; which brings forth a true synthesis of modern art.

Featured Dance items: A tribute to Rabindranath Tagore and Ananda Shankar, folk Songs of Sri Lanka, Drums, Ghatam and Tabla. Student performers include Alpi Sinha, Shani Pascal, Sarmi Biswas, Smita Chehhda, Penelope Kalloo and Priyanka Pendharkar.
Dakshina Palli, Inc. Led by the dynamic artistic vision of Jaan R. Freeman. DPDC (Dakshina Palli Dance Company) a resident company of Dakshina Palli was established in 2005. The company showcases the rich, highly elegant and distinguished repertoire of the Balasaraswati lineage as well as feature the outstanding, emerging guest artist of their peers. In February 2005 DPDC founded its series entitled “A New Generation”, a program featuring young professional dancers of this lineage, with a fresh interpretation of this traditional and ancient art form. DPDC maintains that it isn’t a repository of the classical repertoire only, but a company which would showcase new innovative contemporary bharatanatyam dances.
The DPDC is a unique company whose strength is its repertory. The company has performed at:Trisha Brown Dance Center, City Center Studios, Sri Venkateswara Balaji Hindu temple, Merkin Hall, Biko Center, Downtown Dance Festival, Ananda Ashram, Mary Anthony Dance Theater and the Elebash Recital Hall at CUNY. The Company flourishes under the guidance of - SHANTI PILLAI, ROMONA MUKHERJEE & RUKMANI J. VENKATARAMANI.