Preface

Director Holger Reenberg and curator Stinna Toft

HEART is proud to present the first-ever major exhibition of Indian contemporary art in Denmark. India is a new powerhouse for contemporary art and a new economic superpower on the global scene. It is the largest democracy in the world, and at the same time it is the country with the greatest differences between rich and poor. India is often characterised as a country of contrasts, and this is evident in the works featured in the show; they span a wide range in terms of themes as well as format.

Indian Highway was realised in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Olso. It is the result of a long-term commitment to co-operation that began with the exhibition Uncertain States of America in 2007.

Indian Highway is not a traditional travelling exhibition; it transforms itself from one exhibition venue to the next. Indian Highway introduces a new, radical curatorial model where curators and artists are invited on an ongoing basis to apply new angles on Indian art, thereby allowing the exhibition to change its format and mode of expression. For the Indian Highway show staged at the Serpentine Gallery, the Delhi-based artists’ group Raqs Media Collective arranged a section featuring documentary filmmakers, and at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art a new section was curated by the artist/curator Bose Krishnamachari. At HEART, the artist/curator Shilpa Gupta has been invited to create a new section featuring video works by eight Indian artists: Nikhil Chopra, Baptist Coelho, Sunil Gupta, Tushar Joag, Sonia Khurana, Nalini Malani, Kiran Subbaiah, and Vivan Sundaram. The HEART show also presents a number of new artists in the main body of the exhibition: Jayashree Chakravarty, Anita Dube, and Jagannath Panda, as well as new works by Subodh Gupta and Sundarshan Shetty.

India is steeped in tradition, culture, and art history. Today, Indian art and culture is making a greater impact on Western culture than ever before: Bollywood films, Indian cuisine, dance, literature, fashion, and music attract a great deal of attention. This has prompted HEART to supplement Indian Highway by presenting a small selection of examples of these other art forms, thereby placing Indian contemporary art within a wider context. As a new feature, HEART also offers an online catalogue where visitors are free to download texts by Ranjit Hoskote, Savita Apte, Leila Hasham, Rebecca Morrild, Viday Shivadas, and Stine Kleis Hansen. We are grateful for their insightful contributions.

Very special thanks are due to the Serpentine Gallery and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art and to main curators of the exhibition, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones and Gunnar Kvaran, for marvellous co-operation.
HEART extends its thanks to all lenders, collectors, and galleries who have contributed to realising Indian Highway. Thank you to those who have played particularly crucial roles in making the exhibition at HEART happen: Nicolai Frahm, Frahm LTD, Niru Ratman, Aicon Gallery, London, Peter Nagy, Galleri Nature Morte, Berlin, Ganges Art Gallery, Kolkatta, and Preben Gondolf, operator of the website indiskkunst.dk.
Particular thanks are extended to the artists who have consented to having their works shown under the auspices of this large-scale exhibition project. The project could not have been realised without their support and goodwill. We also thank the artists’ galleries and representation for valuable assistance.

HEART is very grateful for the generous support received from foundations and partners: Calamus Danmark – part of Atea, CKU – Center for Kulturudvikling, Egefonden, the Municipality of Herning, the Municipality of Ikast-Brande, The Danish Art Council’s Committee for International Visual Art, Midtjydsk Skole- og Kulturfond, Montana, Nykredits Fond, Priebe Sceneteknik A/S, and the Indian Ambassador in Denmark. Warm thanks are also extended to all members of staff at HEART; their commitment and enthusiasm has contributed to the realisation of this ambitious exhibition.

Bose Krishnamachari: Ghost / Transmemoir 2006-08

Dayanita Singh: Dream Villa 11 - 2007, 2008

Nalini Malani: Part Object, 2008