INDIAN HIGHWAY 4 | 2011
The exhibition is an itinerant collective show that, through a vast selection of works, presents the multiform panorama of the Contemporary Indian artistic scene. Indian Highway offers an exciting opportunity to learn about Indian artistic research and constitutes the first investigation by an Italian museum of the art of this fascinating country.
With 30 artists, 60 works including 4 site-specific installations conceived for MAXXI Art and a series of works exhibited here for the first time in all their monumentality, the exhibition offers a vast representation of the creative panorama of one of Asia’s largest regions and reflects the economic, social and cultural developments of the past twenty years. Beginning with the definition of the highway as an element of connection between the migratory flows moving from the periphery towards the city, Indian Highway speaks about technological development, the economic boom and the growing global centrality of this subcontinent in the world of the arts since the 1990s.
The exhibition can essentially be divided into three macro areas:
Indian Identity and Histories: investigates political, social and religious themes such as the war between India and Pakistan, the religious struggles, the transience of the national borders.
Exploding metropolises: examines urban expansion and chaos and the abandonment of the rural areas.
Contemporary Tradition : explores the revisiting of ancient forms of expression from Indian culture such as miniatures, ceramics and ink paintings.
Curated by Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans-Ulrich Obrist and Gunnar B. Kvaran together with Giulia Ferracci, Assistant Curator MAXXI Arte, and organised in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery, London and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway.
Related Links: www.mac-lyon.com/mac