Elisabetta Marabotto of Saffronart shares a note on the forthcoming exhibition at Latitude 28 in New Delhi

Arun Kumar HG, Untitled, 2012. Image Credit: http://www.latitude28.com/index.php/works/newarrival/793

London: Starting from August 27, Latitude 28 presents Diver-Cities II. This exhibition is a celebration of cultural and urban diversities within India.

Baiju Parthan, End of Season, 2012. Image Credit: http://www.latitude28.com/index.php/works/newarrival/794

Eleven contemporary artists from different parts of India have been tasked to reflect on the idea of ‘city’ and its related concepts such as identity and globalization. Their works have then been brought together in one single exhibition to present their different interpretations and contemporary art practices.

Sarnath Banerjee, Lalbazaar Detective Department: Lower Pile. Image Credit: http://www.latitude28.com/index.php/works/newarrival/804

Among the artists feature Baiju Parthan, Sarnath Banerjee, Gigi Scaria, Arun Kumar HG, Praneet Soi and Sudipta Das.

Gigi Scaria, Icarus, Yet Another Attempt, 2013. Image Credit: http://www.latitude28.com/index.php/works/new
arrival/908

Sunil Khilnani in The Idea of India noted: ‘India’s cities are hinges between its vast population spread across the countryside and the hectic tides of global economy, with its ruthlessly shifting tastes and its ceaseless murmur of the pleasures and hazards of modernity. This three-cornered relationship decisively moulds India’s future economic, cultural and political possibilities. The demographic drift across the world is unstoppably towards the urban.’ ‘Modern India’s political and economic experiences have coincided most dramatically in its cities – symbols of the uneven, hectic and contradictory character of the nation’s modem life. From the ancient sacred space of Benares to the decaying colonial pomp of Calcutta, from the high rationalism of Chandigarh to the software utopia of Bangalore, from Bombay’s uneasy blend of parochial politics and cosmopolitan to the thrusting new cities of the north. The evident urban disjuncture’s have enlivened distinct political sentiments. The real and imagined experience of the city has individually and together reconstituted both the nature and the range of the selves, the ‘identities’ that Indians can call their own.’

Praneet Soi, The Dream, 2008. Image Credit: http://www.latitude28.com/index.php/works/newarrival/803

For more information on the exhibition click here.