With Indian contemporary art at an all time high, the Indian Diaspora artists in the U.S. have steadily gained momentum and claimed their turf. Indian Diaspora Art is alive and gearing up for its Fifth Annual exhibition entitled ‘Erasing Borders 2008: Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora’ featuring works by 40 artists that is currently touring in the USA.

The Indo-American Arts Council’s show features an eclectic mix of diverse mediums employed by a group of 40 artists representing myriad styles, mediums and mind sets with one common bond - a shared Indian heritage that has been cultivated in the United States. Now in its fifth year, this traveling exhibition has had a successful showing in California and kicks off in New York at the Tabla Rasa Gallery in Brooklyn. The opening reception will be held on March 12, 2008 from 6pm – 8:30pm and the exhibition runs through March 27th, 2008.

Of the 270 submissions, curator Vijay Kumar has selected 40 artists whose work accurately reflects the diversity – religious, ethnic and intellectual predilections – of the Indian Diaspora population in the U.S. Each distinctive piece in the exhibition shares this unifying characteristic. Kumar sums it up by saying they are “works trying to ‘find home’ within the psyche.” He adds, “We are thrilled to be able to exhibit the diversity in the artists’ chosen medium of expression, gender and generation. The overwhelming number of submissions reflects the significance of the IAAC serving as a platform for showcasing Indian Diaspora artists.”

In diverse styles and from a variety of perspectives, artists express the dynamic public and private character of being Indian in the U.S. and their world, conveying personal, regional, national, and universal themes. The work of these artists is as diverse as the artists themselves, a reflection of the theme – Erasing Borders. The artists express their ideas and visions through conceptual artwork, sculpture, mixed media, abstract and figurative paintings, photo installations, printmaking, photography, drawing and ‘nakhachitra’ - the rare art of fingernail relief drawing.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Participating artists are: Amina Ahmed, Fariba Alam, Salma Arastu, Shelly Bahl, Siona Benjamin, Anna Bhushan, Bushra Chaudry, Bivas Chaudhuri, Nandini Chirimar, Mareena Waheeda Daredia, Delna Dastur, Vinod Dave, Anindita Dutta, Anujan Ezhikode, Indrani Nayar-Gall, Asha Ganpat, Arvind Garg, Mumtaz Hussain, Satish Joshi, Reeta Karmarkar, Swati Khurana, Vijay Kumar, Srinivas Kuruganti, Samanta Batra Mehta, Alakananda Mukerji, Pratima Naithani, Veru Narula, Kuzana Ogg, Antonio Puri, Niema Khan Qureshi, Alka Raghuram, Sukanya Rahman, Chirag Rana, Tara Sabharwal, Ela Shah, Reuben Sinha, Anjali Srinivasan, Suhas Tavkar, Prince Varughese Thomas, Yetish Yetish.

TOUR