CONTENTSART AFFAIRSKALEIDOSCOPEINTERNATIONAL REPORT 
Madhvi Subrahmanian INTERVIEWSGillian Da Costa Latika Gupta Suresh Jayaram Shiladitya Sarkar Sandhya Bordewekar Sage MehtaLETTER FROM PAKISTANQuddus MirzaSPECIAL REPORTSSandhya Bordewekar Marta Jakimowicz Meera Menezes INTERNATIONAL PROFILEZehra JumabhoyINTERNATIONAL REVIEWSDeirdre King Poornima PaidipatyPeter Felch Rotem RuffCindy EldenLucy SoutterREVIEWSSubuhi JiwaniGitanjali Dang Shiladitya Sarkar Gopika Nath Preeti Bahadur Ramaswami Beth CitronHOMAGEKashinath SalveArt India Gallery
Art India Gallery: Housed at the ART India office at Victoria Mills in Mumbai, the recent inauguration of the Art India gallery is an important event for Mumbai's arts scene as it allows young emerging artists the space to explore ideas that are not always possible within the confines of a traditional art gallery space, where commercial demands often inhibit experimentation.
ART India and chatterjee & lal
presented
racing pulse
by
rajesh pullarwar
Rajesh Pullarwar is one of the most promising multi-media artists working in India today. He was the joint winner of the Young Artist of the Year Award/Most Promising Artist of the Future Award presented by the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, in 2005.
For the site-specific work at the new ART India gallery, Pullarwar has developed an idea that first found expression in his solo show in Mumbai in 2005. There, he had come up with an installation-based work that used acrylic rods to create a self-portrait; backlit, it was suspended from the gallery's ceiling. In the present exhibition, the ART India gallery space is seen being 'peopled' by Pullarwar's faces which both 'encircle' the gallery space as well as 'emanate' from television screens arranged at the floor level. The overall effect of the work is designed to bring to mind the extent to which our environment impacts us all at the most basic elemental level. The title, Racing Pulse, asks us to introspect about the effect of spaces, of the media, perhaps even of art itself on our own bodies. The show promises to be an exciting moment in the evolving oeuvre of Pullarwar's body of work.
Racing Pulse was on view from 11th to 30th November, 2006.
At the ART India Gallery, Second Floor, Victoria House, Victoria Mills Compound, Pandurang
Budhkar Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400013. Ph: 24927000 / 24917954.
The Promising Artist Award
The Promising Artist Award has been instituted by ART India, the premier art magazine in the country, in collaboration with the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The aim of the award is to encourage young artists to pursue their art practices and to develop their independent ways of addressing social issues through their works; the award also hopes to facilitate a public interface with developments in contemporary Indian art.
The Promising Artist Award includes a citation and a cash prize of Rs. Three Lakhs; works by short-listed artists will be showcased at a show at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The recipient of the award last year was the 32-year old George Martin. Following the award, he has earned many accolades and looks poised to pursue a successful career as an artist.
With reference to the spirit of the award, the president of ART India magazine, Sangita Jindal, says: "The award is probably the first of its kind in the country as far as the support it offers to up-coming artists is concerned. I am sure the award will be recognised as one of the most prestigious and coveted awards in the visual arts." The competition is open to Indian nationals below the age of 40 who are exploring practices like painting, sculpture, installation art, new media art, photography, and graphic design.
Abhay Sardesai, Editor, ART India magazine, maintains that, " The competition that leads to the award is an opportunity for artists, especially those who do not have access to funding and infrastructural support, to prove themselves."
There were over 200 entries from all over the country for the award this year. The jury comprised: Sangita Jindal, President, ART India, and Art patron; Gulammohammed Sheikh, eminent artist, critic, and educator; Baiju Parthan, eminent artist and thinker; Namita Saraf, owner, The Hyatt Group of Hotels, India, and Art patron; Urmila Kanoria, Chairperson, Kanoria Art Centre; Raj Liberhan, Director, India Habitat Centre; Shireen Gandhi, Gallerist, Chemould Art Gallery; Prerana Shrimali, eminent dancer; Alka Pande, Curator, Visual Arts Gallery, IHC; Abhay Sardesai, Editor, ART India.
The winner of The Promising Artist Award this year is Shiv Kumar Verma and the two Runners-up are Vishal Dar and Abhishek Hazra. The awards were given on the 19th of November at the IHC Awards Ceremony by the Chief Guest, the eminent film director, Shyam Benegal.