A sumptuous north Indian spread with butter chicken, rogan josh and gulab jamun was laid out for invitees at the inaugural dinner for the largest exhibition of Indian art in China on Saturday. But, as it turned out, the evening’s appetite for Indian art matched the taste for its spicy curries.
Not surprising. “Indian Highway”, a well-travelled exhibition of contemporary Indian art comprising paintings, photography, sculpture, video installations and internet-based art is a rare glimpse for many Chinese artists and art lovers into what’s happening in India’s contemporary art canvass.
Twenty nine artists and over 60 works are featured in this exhibition which in the late 2000s took about two years to put together. The range of artists is broad: MF Husain, Vivan Sundaram, Sarnath Banerjee, Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher and Jitish Kallat to name a few.