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Awards for Excellence in Art 2004 India Habitat Centre announces its Awards for Excellence in Art 2004 |
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On October 14, 2005, India Habitat Centre announced its Awards for Excellence in Art in the year 2004. The awards were given away by Dr R K Pachauri, President, India Habitat Centre. Jury comprising of four well-known personalities from the world of art, screened the 97 shows and exhibitions held at the Visual Arts Gallery through the year 2004 and selected the winners for the following categories: Best Show of the Year – British Council Division Import Export, sponsored by the British Council in India, illustrated the international state of design in Britain. A decade ago, the design scene in Britain was completely dominated by British nationals, born and raised on the island country. Now, it is more common to find designers with names such as Kei Ito and Inacio Ribeiro, both of whom were part of this exhibit. British design is setting a truly great example of the positive aspects of globalization. Instead of creating a collection of homogeneous shapes that all conform to one “international” style; these designers from all over the world have come to Britain to design in culturally hybrid styles. The exhibition showcased works by designers like Sandro Sodano, Alan Aboud, Shin Azumi, Tomoko Azumi, Laurent Benner, Gitta Gschwendtner, who also designed the exhibit, Sebastian Bergne, Lara Bohinc, Anne Kyyro Quinn, Tord Boontje, Lubna Chowdhary, Kei Ito, Suzanne Clements, Inacio Ribeiro, Roberto Feo, Rosario Hurtado, Mark Eley, Wakako Kishimoto, Sam Hecht and Kim Colin. The exhibition was curated by Lesley Jackson. The design products displayed here ranged from textiles, to clothing and accessories to innovative laundry baskets and lampshades. Although the designers all live and work in the confines of one small country, there was diversity in their products, styles and concepts. The styles ranged from the sophisticated and elegant jewellery of Lara Bohinc, from Slovenia, to the funky and eclectic textile prints of Eley and Kishomoto, from Wales and Japan respectively. The diversity of these designers and artists is really what held the show together in the spirit of internationalism and globalisation. Best Design & Craft Show - Maggie Baxter – Australian Textile Artist The lines in Maggie Baxter’s prints may have seemed insane or wobbly, but there was a method to the madness in her textile designs. And the end result was quite 'transporting', as some one wrote in her visitor's diary. This was Maggie Baxter's first exhibition in India. An artist and independent curator from Australia, Maggie has been working in Kutch since 2000. Inspired by people who work in the minimalist way especially like the late US artist Agnis Martin, Maggie uses textiles as an expression of art. Exploring how traditional textile techniques can be expressed in contemporary art forms, Maggie used the Kutch textile techniques to play with her scale designs. She also experimented with the concept of transformation; i.e. how basic elements could change from one medium to another, from one scale to another and from one form to another. A design can be block printed, woven into a rug, or blown up dramatically into an architectural scale. Similarly, it can appear in the form of a wall hanging or a hand-woven shawl, embellished with resist block printing, Pakko embroidery and the works. The exhibition also included a small collection of 'innovative, sculptural' garments with a similar interplay of block prints, designed to suit both Indian and Western tastes. Design & Craft Show (Special Commendation) - Pravina King The Visual Arts Gallery witnessed an interesting show by four basket weavers hailing from four different parts of the world. On display were works by Anna King from Scotland, Gabatsholwe Ntwe from Botswana, Hisako Sekijima from Japan and Manimegalai Manickam from Tamil Nadu. Although all of them used natural materials: palm leaves, black bamboo, shuro palm, pine needles, silk, waxed cotton, but each created baskets reflecting their own lifestyle. Although the basketmaking seems to be exclusively art craft, the exhibition proved the numerous possibilities for artistic expression. While works of Anna King were small masterpieces, reminding one of childhood, Gabatsholwe Ntwe’s were traditional. Her baskets were decorated with time-honoured patterns inspired by local life, depicting the everyday scenes: villagers at work, a variety of animals: fishes, zebras, lions. Sekijima presented a world of structure through her modern and sculpture-like pieces and Manickam brought to the gallery the art of basketmaking in Tamil Nadu. Using dyed palm leafs, her work reflected diverse techniques and colours. The exhibition was organised in collaboration with the Scottish Arts Council, Sasakawa Foundation, University of Strathclyde and Visiting Arts. Best solo shows- Karl Antao Gallery Espace presented a series of dynamic teak wood sculptures by artist Karl Antao. These sculptures represented the extent of imagination that contemporary artists produce within. The pieces were surreal and creative, bringing the viewer closer to the artist’s mind. Antao, a master in carving, also used metal, wax and oil paints and stains to enhance the quality, texture and colour of the teak wood. However, these synthetic materials never threatened the wood’s natural beauty. The neutral and soft colours that Antao applied to the surface of his sculpture always allowed for the texture and grain of the wood to seep through to the surface, never denying the use of natural materials. Also, the highly textured surfaces of some of the pieces allowed the viewer to see the depth and variation of wood tone and grain within a single piece. Antao’s megalithic images also contained subtle detail in patterns or facial features that drew the gallery visitors closer to the piece in order to examine it. These images were truly the artist’s imagination transferred into reality and a fantastical and whimsical experience for the viewer. Galleries and curators who helped put up this show: Best solo shows- Ray Meekar Inspired by the megalithic stone circles of pre-historic Avebury in the United Kingdom, each ceramic of Ray Meekar was like a monument in itself. A breathtaking sight of undeniable power greeted one upon entering the Visual Arts Gallery. The exhibit was on from the 15th to the 24th of September. Avebury dwarfs, the more familiar Stonehenge, and is perhaps the most impressive pre-historic stone circle anywhere in the world. Creating massive, architectural forms, the space was enveloped with a queer eeriness that only accentuated one’s experience of the primitive in such a modern setting. Galleries and curators who helped put up this show: Best Group Show -- Gallery Sumukha Gallery Sumukha presented an exhibition curated by Marta Jackimowicz at the Visual Arts Gallery from December 23-27. On display were the art works of Bangalore-based painters, sculptors and installation artists. The show displayed contemporary India, rich in popular iconography also incorporating the ancient imagery of Indian art. Works of artists like Ravinder Reddy, Jehangir Jani, Nalini Malani, and Ravi Shah were on display. K.T. Shiva Prasad in his paintings invited the viewer to watch his version of the meeting between Jesus Christ and popular American movie heroes. While artist Pamela Singh, after spending a lot of time in Europe, gave a fresh take on the culturally vibrant mix visible in India through her work Lotus Meditation. Galleries and curators who helped put up this show: Best Photography Show - Sunil Gupta Sunil Gupta put on an expansive and riveting show of photographs taken by him over a span of twenty years. One section of the show was dedicated to the pictures from his book titled “Pictures from Here” released in 2003, reflecting Gupta’s life and trials as an HIV positive, gay Indian male living in exile. His images included the ones he took upon his first return to India after living his youth in Canada, focusing on gay male life in urban India and places where they socialized. The next section centered more on a personal moment in the photographer’s life within the intimate and personal space of a kitchen. This was followed by a photographic project Gupta created to help him come to terms with his HIV positive status. These images directed attention to a parallel between the diseased body and the gay London nightlife and were accompanied by descriptive words. The last section contrasted domestic and family images of India and the West, including the UK and America. The photo exhibition was sponsored by the British Council, the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Godrej, HCC, Bilt and Ambuja Cement and was presented by Fotomedia in collaboration with the Naz Foundation Trust and the Visual Arts Gallery. It reflected the need to create a visual and artistic history of imaging the gay Indian male by the gay Indian male and positioning the diasporic homosexual in art in general. Gupta’s exhibit was shown in conjunction with a series of films and talks on gender in India. Galleries and curators who helped put up this show: A festival to coincide with the International Women's day on March 8th showcased an exhibition of documentary photographic works by leading female photographers such as Pamela Singh, Sheeba Chachhi, Ami Vitale, Anita Khemka, Kriti Arora, Gauri Gill, Sonia Jabbar and Purnima Rao. The photographs tell the story of the Indian woman, her changing issues of concern, and how some remain the same, even as it highlighted the changing role of the female photographer. The exhibition was presented as a series of eight photo-essays, covering areas such as the Women's Movement, the first women in the Air Force, and women suffering from AIDS. The show was curated by Kriti Arora and Olivia Arthur. Galleries and curators who helped put up this show: Best Catalogue - Osians An inaugural exhibition of the Osian’s Archive Collection was held at the Visual Arts Gallery in November. Curated by art connossieur Neville Tuli, who runs an art auction house called Osian in Mumbai, the Underlying Spirit showcased their efforts towards building infrastructure for the arts and culture. “It was meant to make people rethink about the vast scale and quality of our contemporary arts,” said Tuli. “More importantly this would open out unimaginable treasure trove of knowledge, which would change the nature by which many subjects are taught across the world, once Osian’s online archive became functional,” he added. The exhibition showcased the Osian’s efforts towards preserving Indian and Asian contemporary fine arts, cinema, popular arts and heritage architecture. It was inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Mrs Sheila Dixit.
In an effort to encourage upcoming talent, the Visual Arts Gallery, IHC, instituted Habitat Art Awards in 2001. A jury consisting of experts from the world of art and its analogous fields, representing diverse practice and experience, are brought together to judge the diversity of artwork that has been showcased at the Gallery during the last year. This year the jury members included four well-known personalities from the world of art, i.e. Ms Brinda Miller, Mr. Jamal Mecklai, Mr Parthiv Shah and Mr Suresh Jayaram. Under the chairmanship of Mr Raj Liberhan, Director, India Habitat Centre, the jury met on September 22, 2005 for day-long deliberations. Established in August 2000, the Visual Arts Gallery has become the hub of art activity, which spans different genres, crossing many boundaries. From hanging art to cross talks and now traversing the path of the digital world, the Visual Arts Gallery has a finger on the pulse of contemporary art trends leading to a union of energies and sharing of ideas. It has been distinguished by path breaking and prestigious events that have proven successful our attempts at the creation and evolution of a critical art vocabulary. The India Habitat Centre has established itself as a locus, a platform for cultural activity, which provides an opportunity to display creative talents or witness excellence on display. The endeavor has been to bring to the people, the cultural dimensions of our times embodied by fine art, performance, oratorical skills and discourses on key issues. And being a part of the India Habitat Centre, the Visual Arts Gallery has imbibed one of its guiding principles: spreading awareness and developing sensitivity with regard to all aspects of human creativity including the significance of art in the habitat. |
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