A rare collection of photographs highlighting the close ties between India and Bhutan since the treaty of 1949, are on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi. Bhutan: An Eye to History (December 23-January 31) features the photographic work of Jigme Singye Khesar Namgyel, the fifth Druk Gyalpo or king of Bhutan.
Also on over the coming festive week is an exhibition of Chinese paintings and calligraphy at the Taj Mahal Hotel.
Religare’s arts.i gallery hosts a show presented by Aman Nath and Francis Wacziarg, intriguingly titled Found Object & Lost Planet, around the theme of “pre-conditioning in viewing and judging art”. The works, featuring photographs by Sanjay Bhattacharya, hitherto known for his watercolours and oils, is on until January 5.
Canvas-1 at Gallery Art Motif in Lado Sarai, Delhi, is a far more conventional, group show, including names like Gurdeep Singh, Samit Das, Sohini Dhar and Pooja Iranna. On till January 3.
Another interesting show is Indigo: New Works by Shelly Jyoti, textile designer-artist-poet from Vadodara, and Laura Kina, artist-academician from Chicago, that tracks the forgotten history of indigo from its bloody colonial past in India to its present use in blue jeans. The exhibition comprises 40 works (including five site-specific installations) in mediums like hand embroidery on khadi, acrylic on fabric, hand-stencilled Sanskrit calligraphy and textile embroidery on canvas. The exhibition is on at the Open Palm Court Gallery in Delhi’s India Habitat Centre till December 28. It will then travel to the Nehru Art Centre in Mumbai from January 12-18.
Gallery Maskara, Mumbai, hosts Sperm Weaver the first solo of Shine Shivan — some sculptures and performances, photographs, a video exploring and redefining masculinity as a psychological “construct”. Shivan’s works often depict an “aggressive” male, but in ways that question gender stereotypes and emphasise homoerotic identity. The exhibition will continue at Warehouse on 3rd Pasta in Colaba till January 23.
At Bangalore’s Gallryske, dedicated to new age art, Sakshi Gupta shows her recent works, including installations that create a sense of unease. Her Landscape of Waking Memories, a “quilt” of cast aluminium fake eyelashes and feathers, is part of the Indian Highway show curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Julia Peyton-Jones and Gunnar B Kvaran at the Serpentine Gallery early this year. The show ends on January 16.
