India at the Venice Biennale: Collateral Events From and Beyond the Nation
- Submitting institution
-
Birmingham City University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 32Z_OP_D0070
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
10.1386/jcs_00011_1
- Title of journal
- Journal of Curatorial Studies
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 70
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 1
- ISSN
- 2045-5836
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- -
- Year of publication
- 2020
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
-
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This peer-reviewed paper, ‘India at the Venice Biennale: Collateral Events from and Beyond the Nation’, explores India’s participation at the Venice Biennale since the 2000s through an in-depth, qualitative analysis. The paper provides a novel investigation into the imbricated relationship of biennales and the art market, and of national and global imaginaries. It intervenes in understandings of the ‘transcultural turn’ in curatorial practices by extending existing debates on contemporary art and curating in a global context and by proposing a new analytical framework for understanding contemporary Indian art globally.
This research presents unparalleled access to, and an original analysis of, a wide range of texts produced by leading figures in the field. This includes those curators, artists and cultural practitioners involved in India’s participation at the Venice Biennale and commentators on the event. Primary and secondary sources include in-depth interviews, observations, photographic and sound recordings, exhibition catalogues, conference proceedings, press releases, online archive materials and specialist publications.
Through a case-study of the exhibition ‘iCon: India Contemporary’ (2005)—a collateral event of the 51st Venice Biennale—analysis demonstrates how commercial galleries and private art institutions have acquired an important role in the production and exhibiting of Indian contemporary art in global biennial circuits. Foregrounding a transversal approach, the research provides new perspectives into a broad range of curatorial actions and timelines, not only final exhibitions, but also curatorial intentions and organizational logics, and contributes to our understanding of the power relations behind exhibition histories.
The research was first presented at the international conference ‘The Politics of Display: Collateral Events and Pavilions at the Venice Biennale’ at the University of St. Andrews (EU-LAC-MUSEUMS project, 2017), and then revised, edited and published for inclusion in the special journal issue <The Politics of the Venice Biennale> (<Journal of Curatorial Studies>, Intellect Books).
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -