Home and away

The world may have shrunk thanks to technology and ease of travel but what happens to the concept of lsquohomersquo and what is its modern definition If the earlier ideas equated lsquohomelandrsquo with onersquos ancestral place modern lifestyle has resulted in people migrating countries and sharing diverse identities Exploring such issues is the exhibition Homelands mdash A 21st century story of home away and all the places in between which has travelled to New Delhi and Kolkata and will head to Bengaluru after Mumbai Untitled image from the series Shopna Indian curator Latika Gupta has curated the exhibition and it includes artworks culled from the British Councilrsquos art collection The exhibition offers a unique take on contemporary British art and includes works by artists such as Mona Hatoum David Hockney Grayson Perry and David Shrigley The artists represent a diversity of identity Mona Hatoum is a PalestinianLebaneseBritish Zineb Sedira is AlgerianFrenchBritish and Suki Dhanda is a BritishAsian whose family immigrated to the UK from Punjab Excerpts from an interview with Gupta Steep Lane Baptist Chapel 1977 by Martin Parr How did Homelands happen I was invited by the British Council UK to curate an exhibition from their collection in 2011 The theme of the exhibition emerged after going through the works from the collection As the world becomes increasingly lsquoglobalisedrsquo there is also a simultaneous tightening of borders increasingly intolerant state policies towards immigrants and a greater fundamentalism in religious and cultural identities The exhibition attempts to understand this common contemporary condition that afflicts our world and each of us today Through more than 80 works Homelands unpacks the concepts of language cultural and religious practices as well as ideas of citizenship and exile and by Mona Hatoum pics courtesyBritish council Was there a particular criteria kept in mind in selecting the artists All the work is a part of the permanent collection of the British Council which has more than 8500 works that have been acquired from the 1930s The collection functions as a lsquomuseum without wallsrsquo and one of the primary mandates is to tour as many works from the collection to different countries around the world Thus none of the works have been made or commissioned for the exhibition In terms of selection my focus was on the art work rather than the artist What are the highlights of Homelands For the art community it is the first time that many iconic works are being shown in India mdash including David Hockneyrsquos series A Rakersquos Progress Mona Hatoumrsquos video Measures of Distance Richard Longrsquos Stone Line the recent Susan Hiller work The Last Silent Movie that consists of a video installation and 24 prints and Jeremy Dellerrsquos Acid Brass Incidentally Deller is representing Britain in the 2013 Venice Biennale For art students the exhibition presents multiple modes of art practices ranging from printmaking painting sculpture ceramics photography and video art to sound installations and temporary performative practices For the general audience Homelands presents subjects that speak of individual stories as well as larger community histories Latika Gupta What is concept of homeland that the exhibition explores Homeland is usually defined as the country of our national identity Today many of us move across national boundaries We are born in one country we make another our home In the crisscrossing of political social and cultural borders we live our lives through hyphenated identities belonging here and there inhabiting multiple places both physical and metaphorical The works in the exhibition delve into ideas of language communication folk cultures exile public histories as well as personal family narratives to complicate any singular understanding of what a homeland might mean Is there an Indian connect to the exhibition I am Indian so the theme of the exhibition as well as the selection of the works may have been via an lsquoIndianrsquo viewpoint I do try to avoid sweeping generalisations I question the idea of identity as being fixed according to onersquos nationality passport place of birth or the land of onersquos ancestors Living in a particular region informs our worldview as much as communication and a sharing of cultures does in todayrsquos world of increased travel From April 28 to June 9 10 am to 530 pm At Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum Byculla Call 23731234u00a0