Above: Koli Indian Art
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Above: Koli Indian Art
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A new exhibit in Washington unearths a collection of Indian and Pakistani art by up-and-coming artists from South Asia. The exhibit, sponsored by the Asia Society, opens on Sept. 28 at the HNTB Architecture building.

Finding a lack of South Asian art in area museums, curator Koli Banik opted to display her personal collection of art from her many trips to India. The exhibit is so personal that Banik has chosen pay for all the paintings and shipping costs.

In the past five years, Banik has met with a variety of local artists – virtually unknown in the West, and bought artwork from their own homes. The six featured artists, Ahsan Jamal, Chhotu Lal, Hasnat Mehmood, Rameshwar Singh, Viren Tanwar and Saira Wasim, share traditional Indian painting methods and mediums, while exploring contemporary themes. The artists used the 15^th and 16^th century style called mughal, small paintings that usually make social and political commentary.

These interpretations of the cultural and political divisions between the two countries represent, “Partitions: An Exhibit of Contemporary Paintings from Pakistan and India.”

“The art pieces have never been exhibited outside India and I wanted to give them exposure,” she said. “These are political messages, which I think are really important for younger generations to express themselves and to know what’s going on around them. They have made comments on government, commercialization and situation of some minority groups.”

Banik said she’s especially drawn to the paintings that juxtapose the image of the traditional minority to the conflicts of the modern world.

The paintings in this exhibit come from underground Indian art scene, which has opened the door for artists once closed to the freedoms of expression. Banik said the works from India differ from Pakistani art in that they focus more on aesthetics than messages.

“It’s interesting to see what kind of art is coming out of the Pakistanis,” Banik said. “Maybe it’s their situation. Pakistanis deal with religious oppressions, female issues and other civil rights. They employ more messages in their art. All of these pieces are figurative, instead of abstract. It’s easy to understand what their views are.”

Although interest in South Asian art has increased over the years, resources for commercial art galleries remain largely unavailable.

“Indian art in the last couple years has really grown in terms of auction houses,” Banik said. “It’s really ‘in’ in contemporary art. I think the artists that I’ve chosen are not as commercial, because we need to highlight artists who are doing other things. Nobody is really copying one another – it’s so unique and original.”

Ariana Leon Rabindranath, assistant director for programs at Asia Society in Washington, said her organization chose to partner in this project, so that they could educate others.

“I’ve been meeting Asia Society who collect South Asian art, but who mostly go to New York or South Asia. I could see that there is an interest here but not much of an outlet,” Rabindranath said. “We try in our small way to provide that aspect of Asian culture to the Washington community in this exhibit.”

Banik is also planning another Indian art exhibit for 2007 in conjunction with Towson University’s Asian Arts and Culture Center.