The View from the Summit

Also,placed across the venue,in the central foyer and outer fringes,will be sculptures and photographs from the Purple Wall Project curated by Gayatri Sinha. “The works reflect urbanism,” says Sinha,who got artists like Mithu Sen and Riyas Komu to create works especially for the project. One of the more recognisable works will be Subodh Gupta’s monumental Three Monkeys that was displayed at Art Basel last year. The giant heads in bronze are covered in a terrorist’s hood,gas mask and a helmet made of utensils. There will also be Richard Bartholomew’s photographs of the modernists,including MF Husain,Biren De and FN Souza.

This time,video art gains prominence. On a 6 ft x 4 ft screen will be shown 99 videos,including Raqs Media Collective’s Sleepwalkers’ Caravan that was part of the critically acclaimed exhibition “Indian Highway” at Serpentine Gallery in London early this year. With figures of Yaksha and Yakshi,mythic guardians of treasure,placed against an urbanscape,it questions if cities are becoming richer or poorer. Also,look out for Wang Jianwei’s Flying Bird is Motionless that uses ballistic swordfight to depict the antagonism in corporate culture.

If you would rather listen to art talk,there will be over 50 speakers across 13 sessions. Anders Petterson,CEO of ArtTactic,a London-based analyst of art market,will chair a session on “Emerging Markets: Art in the Age of Uncertainty”. Nicolas Bourriaud from Tate Britain will participate in a discussion on globalisation and its effects,while Zara Porter Hill,director head of Indian and Southeast Asian Department,Sotheby’s,will discuss “Valuation of Art: Areas of Conflict and Concern”. There will be a live projection of discussions in the cafeteria,but if want to attend a session,which comprises two panel discussions,pay up Rs 1,654.

If guided tours are your thing,enrol for a one-hour curatorial walk conducted by the School of Art & Aesthetics,Jawaharlal Nehru University. There will also be art workshops for 12 to 14 year olds. At the Dream Museum booth,a project by the Asia Art Archive and Devi Art Foundation,you can write down your idea of a dream museum.

All action will not be concentrated at Pragati Maidan though. The Lalit Kala Akademi will host an exhibition from its archival collection. The British Council will host Rashmi Kaleka’s sound installation Hawkers Ki Jagah that has voices of Delhi’s street hawkers. The building’s façade,meanwhile,will be used to project Vishal K Dar’s Navgunjar that captures visitors in real-time on camera. If you walk to the Central Park at Connaught Place,you could even listen to some horn patterns of autorickshaws. The work titled Yokomono-Pro will be presented by Khoj. Among private galleries,Talwar Gallery will host a solo of A Balasubramaniam; Gallery Espace will bring together six young artists; and Devi Art Foundation,Gurgaon,will display LN Tallur’s much talked about installation Souvenir Maker,apart from select works of Bangladeshi artist Mahbubur Rahman from the private collection of Lekha and Anupam Poddar.