It is in this month of May that we truly feel the heat of summer begin to radiate, but in the midst of the summer inferno there is the silver lining of the spring blossoms, the variety of summer fruits which are about to come into abundance, and feeling the cool grass beneath your feet. Yet it is in this vibrant month which, with heavy hearts, we pay our respects to the late Ram Kumar, one of India’s veteran modernist masters who will be sorely missed.

In this season we used to witness the winding down of the art scene during the intense heat of summer, but in this time of innovation artists and curators are finding increasingly creative ways to keep the scene alive even in these months. In our May issue we bring you a plethora of happenings from within the Indian Art scene, as well as internationally. Also in recent times we see an increasing amount of emphasis placed on community engagement, particularly in this country, which we are proud to be able to represent in this issue. In this time of socio-political flux artists and curators are finding creative ways to execute projects which involve and develop the communities which surround them. We feature an interview with Ushmita Sahu and Jagganath Panda about their recent project in Odisha ‘BAP III’ a public art initiative, in a bid to understand the philosophy behind it.

Deepak Ramola reports on the public art project ‘The Wise Wall Project’ orchestrated by the organization ‘Project FUEL’ whereby villagers drew from their rural wisdom and personal experiences, and created mural art on the walls of the village homes. Sandhya Annaiah reports on ‘Embracing – An act of Resistance’ a project which delved into the innate, historical, and in modern times often forgotten, relationship we have with nature. The focus was on the relationship which women in particular have with nature, a recurrent theme of feminist utopias, and metaphor for the power struggle between capital and the Earth.

Art is, and always has been a direct way of engaging with the public. American artist Dan Colen is one such artist for whom the communicative experience with the audience is at the forefront of his practice. Our London correspondent Rajesh Punj interviews the artist, giving us a window into his adrenaline fueled practice in which he applies himself completely to unearthing emotions and concepts.

In her essay ‘Saga of Power Play in Art’ Sumati Gangopadhyay gives us an insight into the world of artist Kavita Shah, and her process of philosophical detachment while exploring the dynamics of power. Mallika Chakrawarti takes us back in time in her exploration of Abdur Rehman Chughtai, one of Pakistan’s leading personalities in Art, and key figure in the preindependence Swadeshi movment.

Palak Dubey reports on the recent series of works ‘Davedevam’ by contemporary artist G Pramod Reddy, where he brings a new light and diction to age old beloved gods and mythological figures. Our Mumbai correspondent Tanishka D’lyma reports on the exhibition ‘Ragmala – Songs of Anthropocene’ by artists Sanjeev Khandekar and Vaishali Narkar and their work which speaks of the music of today’s earth, a series of paintings that depict the sentiments of the ragas. Last month in Delhi, Shrine Empire hosted the exhibition ‘Caressing History’ which drew on the concept of body based historiography. In this international exhibition, artists from across the globe displayed work which focused on the body as an archive of personal and social history which Indira Lakshmi Prasad reports on. And finally, Korean curator Insang Song reports on the experience of four Korean artists during their time in the frenzied environment of our Capital city which was inspiration behind their exhibition at NIV arts center earlier in the year.

As always, we welcome you to get in touch with your comments, feedback and suggestions.
Happy Reading -Siddhartha Tagore