|
Cross Poly Nations
The concept behind
Cross Polynations emerges from my continuing work
with gender and identity. Locating this cross
cultural dialogue between two artists it became of
interest to me the richness of such strong
cultural and intricate histories , where personal
and universal spaces combined , the coexistence
seemed beautiful. This three way discussions led
to ideas and added another dimension to this
discussion , what would naturally emerge would be
a cross cultural dialogue and then entered the
bridge to connect the two worlds, the worlds of
the Milanese artist Barbara Pietrasanta and the
Delhi based Remen Chopra, Mumbai based Hema
Upadhyaye who works with mixed media and
installations became the ‘near perfect’ thread
weaving the cross-cultural dialogue.. These
artists all shared the very important
characteristics that brought them to one place ,
their creative processes in developing a visual
statement of their lives to present and share with
us all the temporal realms of the feminine . The
Differing approaches , perspectives and
generational differences started to pollinate the
private personal space with the universal aspect
of the feminine , and thus was born the idea cross
ploynation. Polynations had a three edged
interpretable for us .
Cross –a
crossing of boundary
Poly – between three cities
Nations – between two nations
Cross Polynations
emerges from the plant kingdom- where
cross-pollinations becomes vital to the production
of fruit from a tree, or flowers to bloom in a
garden. The bloom or the blossom transfer pollen
grains , an act of reproduction in seed plants
where the union of male and female gametes occur .
The Bees travel from flower to flower collecting
nectar and in the process they pick up pollen
grains. As the bee flies from flower to flower,
the pollen grains are transferred onto the stigma
of the female flower part thus accentuating the
process of polination .
This word then
started to becomes a metaphor for us within the
sensuous and beauty of the feminine , like an
illuminated flower dipped into the ephemeral world
hidden within the floral tube. Linking nature,
life, form and art . Creating new hybidization and
new discoveries , And such
"cross-pollination" started to engender
new forms of expression that are essential to
discovery. This ongoing dialogue of
hybridization comes to life through the works of
the three women artists , who come from three
different metropolitan cities and two different
cultural nations . They also talk a new global,
international cosmopolitan voice celebrating their
individual ‘difference’.
In the ‘global’
world cities start playing significant roles. In
the case of Delhi, Mumbai and Milan, the two
nations already have a shared past. The Greco
Roman influence was first evident in the realism
of the Buddhist sculptures found in Hadda and
subsequently in Gandhara sculptures and art.
Indian muslims were seen in Roman courts while the
Italian arches seen in the buildings. Trade
between the two cities naturally brought in a
cultural exchange, which continues even today.
The exhibition
attempts to examine issues of representation
identity and gender in a global inter city
environment through the production of the art
works and the tracing of the process of
production, the exhibition will foreground the
issues of gender and identity, questioning and
expressing the multiple roles of the feminine ,
expressing dreams , thoughts and desires , the
private world which coexists within the universal
landscape , within a reciprocal dialogue.
Francesco Poli an
Italian curator and me an Indian curator will put
our thoughts in way, which will provide the Theo
critical discoveries.
An accompanying
conference in Milan between the three artists, the
two curators led by Amartya Sen could lead to the
production of a ‘new’ hybrid flower.
This hybrid flower
doesnot end here but rather becomes the origin
towards the process of pollinations and ‘polynations’,
becoming a documentary in the process of the
contemporary representation of globality and
globalism ,towards a re articulation of cultural
identity in a true sense.
‘The true artist
, like the true scientist is a researcher using
materials of the world in which he himself lives
and what he creates , or better perhaps, what he
brings back are the objective results of his
exploration.’ – Paul Strand
Dr.
Alka Pande
Curator
Click
here to view exhibition |
