Step Across this Line: Grosvenor Vadehra at Asia House

11 - 22 October 2011
ASIA HOUSE
PRESENTS
 
STEP ACROSS THIS LINE
CONTEMPORARY INDIAN, PAKISTANI AND BANGLADESHI ART
CURATED BY DEEKSHA NATH

 

Asia House is proud to present Step Across this Line: Contemporary Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Art, curated by Deeksha Nath. This exhibitionfeatures the work of cutting-edge young contemporary artists from these three nations whose works cover various media including video and installation art.

 

The title of the exhibition is tongue-in-cheek, considering the regions intertwined histories, cultures and communities and thus inherent knowledge of one another. 'Step across this Line' is also the name of Salman Rushdie's book which is a collection of essays in which he talks about the critical political issues of this era. However, this exhibition asks a larger question: Can we consider what we ourselves mean to each other? Do we love or hate? Do we love and hate? Can we be friends and enemies and most importantly how can we be simultaneously context-specific, proud and post-national.

 

The three neighboring countries have had a fractious past and whilst the tensions are very much alive politically and religiously the young artists share a common ground with mutual ideas and visions. The boundaries of the previous generations are being dismantled as the younger generation of these three countries have more in common than not. They do not share the memories of stories of colonial rule or the horrific memories of partition of their grandparents.

 

The artists participating in this exhibition are Naeem Mohaiemen, Wakil Rahman, Saira Ansari, Mehreen Murtaza, Abishek Hazra, Ayaz Jokhio, Priya Sen, Hasan Elahi, Unum Babar, Firoz Mahmud , Malik Sajad, Gauri Gill, CAMP (Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran) and Asim Waqif.The curator will function both as an insider and outsider (she have never visited Pakistan or Bangladesh but has lived and studied in London and now resides in New Delhi).