From the ‘Concerns’ Desk ... December 2009

Ten Years Down the New Century

The 21st Century had seemed like a myth.  Even at the fag end of the 20th Century, even during the late 1990s, even on the evening of December 31, 1999, with all the media blasting about the Millennium, 21st Century had seemed yet far away.

Now, ten years down into the 21st Century, even as we get ready to read and write 2010, it’s a bit unnerving to realise that we have passed the first decade of 21st Century. Yes, the First Decade of Twenty-first Century. The first ten years of a tumultous period of transition. Every period of transition is bound to go through a time of turmoil, of ups and downs.

It is true. The first decade of 21st Century too had its own shade of the ups and downs. A period of dizzying heights, followed by an equally dizzying dive downwards, punctuated by the confusion and chaos created by both. And nowhere was this more evident or experienced than the world of contemporary art.   The contemporary Indian art scene had gone through an unprecedented concentration of happenings, all condensed into a short span of time. Some great art happened, a lot of trash was also generated. The time of evaluation is not yet upon us, it still remains to be seen how much of the art generated in the last ten years would survive into the future.

As of now, we know that contemporary Indian art has started to have an increasing presence in the international fora. We are bringing out this issue of Art Concerns, which  will also step into the next year, with a cover story that takes a rather cautious look at the hype surrounding the presence of Indian art abroad. Along with it, we’re also presenting the information about Saatchi Gallery’s ‘The Empire Strikes Back: Indian Art Today,’ that seeks to showcase contemporary Indian art in an international platform.

In this issue, we have Maya Kovskaya, an expert on Chinese art, presenting a picture of a changing landscape of art from China, Dr. Kavitha Balakrishnan discussing the work of the young contemporary artist Sujith S.N., senior artist Ranbir Kaleka talking about one of his video works in ‘My Work,’ artist and writer Craig Drennen interviewing the USA-based Indian artist Avantika Bawa, Rikimi Madhukaillya presenting an overview of the art scene in Assam, artist Archana Hande talking about her journeys along the landscape-dominated lands of Kargil, Srinagar and Bhuj along with the regular columns, reviews and articles.

However, we’re regretted to inform you that Part – II of the interview of the art historian R.Siva Kumar, done by Parvez Kabir, will appear only in the next issue, under some unavoidable circumstances.

We wish all our readers a happy and hopeful 2010 !

Team Art Concerns