Public Art and Ecology in India
Edited by Ravi Agarwal, Florian Matzner & Helmut Schippert
Published by Speaking Tiger, India & Kerber, Germany
A project by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai
Art and its ideas have a special role to play in shaping our consciousness. Urban spaces, particularly those in rapidly expanding cities in new developing economies are in direct conflict with nature, as rivers, wetlands, green areas, are being changed to suit the short term goals of urbanization. To help re-think urban space as democratic and in coexistence with nature,
Embrace our Rivers was proposed as a public art project in the coastal megacity of Chennai, India. It was to be held on the estuary of the polluted river Cooum, where the highly polluted river meets the beautiful, wide Bay of Bengal at the Marina Beach, one of the longest beaches in any city.
The thirteen artists invited to respond with their ideas include: Arunkumar HG, India | atelier le balto, France and Germany | Atul Bhalla, India | Rohini Devasher, India | Gram Art Project, India | Mischa Kuball, Germany | Layout Collective, India | Parvathi Nayar, India | Ooze and Marjetica Potrč, Germany and Slovenia | raumlabor, Germany | Gigi Scaria, India | Anna Witt, Germany | Suyeon Yu, Korea
The project, however, could not be installed, as it was denied site clearance even after two years of being proposed. The artist’s voices found expression in an exhibition –
DAMnedArt, which was held at the Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai in early 2018 – and now, in this book, the first on public art and ecology in India.
The editors of the book and curators of the project, include:
Ravi Agarwal, Artist, environmental activist,
writer and curator
Florian Matzner, Art scholar and exhibition organiser
Helmut Schippert, Director, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai
For media queries contact:
projects.khublei@gmail.com | +91 9958257239
Back
