Paris-Delhi-Mumbai

“We hope through this exhibition to create a new awareness of modern Indian art in France,” said Alfred Pacquement,director of the Centre Pompidou. “Our facilities attract around 5.5 million

visitors every year,of whom at least three million come to view the art in our many galleries and see the special films screened in our theatres.”

But the attempt with the ‘Paris-Delhi-Bombay’ show,supported by Infosys and curated by Sophie Duplaix and Fabrice Bousteau,is to also create a dialogue between the contemporary art scenes in India and France. As a result,while the exhibition showcases the works of 30 Indian artists,it also features the works of 18 French artists who came on brief visits to India,a majority for the first time,to take back images varying from kitsch and colourful religious art to the grimness of Kashmir’s Line of Control.

Around two-thirds of the works have been specially commissioned for the show. But what really created a buzz at the inaugural vernissage is the decision of the Centre Pompidou to acquire some of the Indian works for its exceptional modern art collection.

Three works have already been bought — Nalini Malani’s video/shadowplay Remembering Mad Meg,a work that reflects the artist’s continuing involvement with the theme of tragic and heroic women; Amar Kanwar’s video The Scene of Crime,which deals with the painful predicament of ordinary people in Orissa deprived of land and livelihood due to four mega industrial projects; and Strikes at time,an incisive study of industrial and urban decay by the Delhi-based Raqs Media Collective.

Both the Kanwar and Raqs productions were bought by the Centre Pompidou even before they were seen in Paris. “It’s something we don’t do very often,but in this case we were working very closely with the artists,so we felt confident of what we were getting,” said curator Duplaix. “We would like to acquire some more Indian works from the show — two or three more — but I can’t talk about it just now as the process is still on.”

The latest acquisitions will double the number of Indian works in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou. It already possesses the work of five Indian artists — the quartet of lyrical films on the elements by Paris-based painter V Viswanathan; video works by Sonia Khurana,Pushpa Mala and Tejal Shah (all three of whom are also in the current show); and a work by Subodh Gupta,who has a typically dramatic presence in the current show with a massive utensils shop.

‘Paris-Delhi-Bombay’ will run until September 19,presenting not only modern Indian art for nearly four months in Europe’s premiere culture hub,but also a plethora of related events on India — several lectures,including Christophe Jaffrelot’s on contemporary India and by Urvashi Butalia on the changing Indian woman; films,including Traces of the Past by the north-east collective Desire Machine; children’s workshops and even urban walks exploring India in Paris.

But did anyone notice the problem with the show’s title? How come ‘Bombay’ when the city’s name has long been changed to ‘Mumbai’,I asked the Pompidou director Pacquement. He was genuinely surprised. “Most people in France still know the city as ‘Bombay’,” he said. “It’s very interesting what you say.” ‘Paris-Delhi-Bombay’ promises to open French eyes in many surprising ways.