Anna Boghiguian, A Play to Play (detail) 2013, Mixed media installation, Iniva. Photo by Thierry Bal
During ‘Tagore’s Universal Allegories’ exhibition Anna Boghiguian’s sat in the gallery writing imaginary letters to or from Tagore, but also between other people and places.
Rabindranath Tagore at Boulogne-Billancourt, 1926/7, France, short film presented in March by Shanay Jhaveri. This is the garden were a famous photograph of Tagore among flowers was taken, and later emulated by Satyajit Ray.
The first session focused on the question: How we might understand Tagore’s legacy as relevant for contemporary art practice and curating? By this, we don’t mean to insist on a relation or any relevancy, but to use Tagore’s ideas (which might be understood to be futurological, as well as ideological and arcane) as a springboard to engage in discussions about contemporary curating and artistic practice.
[PDF] Notes from Workshop 1.
The workshop ended with a performance by Ansuman Biswas and guests
Grant Watson is Senior Curator and Research Associate at the Institute of International Visual Arts in London (Iniva). As curator at the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (MuHKA) 2006 – 2010 his projects included Santhal Family positions around an Indian sculpture, Cornelius Cardew, Search for the Spirit, Textiles Art and the Social Fabric and the Keywords lecture series. He was previously the Curator of Visual Arts at Project in Dublin between 2001 and 2006 where he focused on solo commissions from contemporary Irish and international artists as well as themed projects such as a series on communism that included an exhibition, book and radio programme. Watson has worked with modern and contemporary Indian art since 1999, researching this subject for Documenta 12, as well as co curating Reflections on Indian Modernism a series of exhibitions, talks and events at the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA). The touring exhibition Nasreen Mohamedi: Notes is the first instalment of this programme. Watson studied Curating and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths College London where he is currently a PhD candidate.