Notes on the Reader (Dialogues on Curating: Part 2)
Since we organized Work in Progress: Dialogues on Curation (Part 1) about six months ago, activities in the curatorial sphere have steadily grown―thereby, positioning the contemporary curator as an integral thinker-producer in the cultural field. This reader offers itself as a moment of ‘pause’―not in the sense of a coffee break but as a … Continue reading
Ajrakh: Heaven’s Imprint on Desert Sands
Excerpts from my dissertation ‘Ajrakh: Heaven’s Imprint on Desert Sands’ have been uploaded on the Crafts Council of India blog. (This research was undertaken as part of a post-graduate diploma in Broadcast Journalism at The Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.)
Interview with Geeta Kapur for Art and Deal Magazine
Interview with Geeta Kapur for Art & Deal Magazine (Issue 32) – A revised version will be published on Afterall Online shortly (Excerpt) Natasha Ginwala: What are the possible reasons for a lack of institutional as well as extra-institutional discourse on curatorial practice in India thus far? Geeta Kapur: Any discourse on curatorship would be … Continue reading
Work in Progress: Dialogues on Curation (Part 1) in collaboration with Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA)
Work in Progress is envisioned as a platform whereupon artists, critics, curators and cultural theorists gather to discuss contemporary trajectories of curatorial practice in the South Asian context, including the changing role of the curator and innovative shifts in exhibition making as well as Arts programming. From performing as a ‘caretaker’ of museum collections – … Continue reading
F. N. Souza: Remembrance of Things to Come (Exhibition Review)
‘Volte Face,’ a mammoth retrospective of Francis Newton Souza’s drawings, paintings and chemical works from the Dhoomimal Collection, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, was held in New Delhi recently. Art writer Natasha Ginwala reviews the show. For in much wisdom there is sorrow and he who stores up knowledge stores up grief.’ – Ecclesiastes … Continue reading
The Way Things Go: Theorizations and Resistances
A headline in an archived edition of The Art Newspaper caught my attention – ‘2,000 works by Hélio Oiticica destroyed in fire.’ Below the opening statement is an image of the artist lying on the floor of his studio in Rio de Janeiro, surrounded by his artworks. This particular image-text combination got me thinking about … Continue reading
F.N. Souza: Remembrane of Things to Come
Curated Walk at VOLTE-FACE: Souza’s Iconoclastic Vision 9th – 18th April 2010 at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. The exhibition has been curated by Yashodhara Dalmia, there will be 200 paintings and drawings from the Dhoomimal Gallery Personal Collection on view. Concept Note: Francis Newton Souza’s art-works present themselves as visual documents that probe the … Continue reading
Resemble Reassemble: A revolutionary dispositif
Maryam / Amber Hammad / 2006 / Digital Print / Courtesy: Devi Art Foundation ‘Resemble Reassemble,’ a landmark group show at Devi Art Foundation presents the works of 45 contemporary artists from Pakistan. Art writer Natasha Ginwala analyses how Rana examines the ‘notional entity’ called ‘Contemporary Pakistani Art’ through this show. The recent exhibition ‘Resemble … Continue reading
Living The Age of Insecurity
The death count flashes, more photographs of rubble circulate, another ‘terrorist’ is named — his association with groups across the border are marked and re-marked by the press and the state. The reality remains unchanged; we live in the age of insecurity. The reaons why violence has become so deeply entrenched in our social systems … Continue reading
Heard at Jaipur Literature Festival 2010
“Being confused means that different parts of your-self are arguing with one another. If that weren’t the case it would be fascist.” – Hanif Kureishi (Discusson on confused identity and migrant writers) “My India is starvation deaths, My India is no BPL cards for the poor, My India is destruction of the forests. Not enough … Continue reading
Natasha Ginwala: Work and Writing 