2 Profile


Contact us The Asian Art Newspaper Vol 20 Issue 8 Published by


Asian Art Newspaper Ltd, London


Editor/publisher Sarah Callaghan


The Asian Art Newspaper PO Box 22521, London W8 4GT, UK sarah.callaghan@ asianartnewspaper.com tel +44 (0)20 7229 6040 fax +44 (0)20 7084 7713


Advertising Jane Grylls


tel +44 (0)20 7300 5661 jane.grylls@royalacademy.org.uk Paolo Russo


paolo.russo@royalacademy.org.uk tel +44 (0)20 7300 5751


Send advertising to Asian Art Newspaper PO Box 22521 London W8 4GT United Kingdom


info@asianartnewspaper.com tel +44 (0)20 7229 6040 fax +44 (0)20 7084 7713


Art direction


Gary Ottewill, Editorial Design garyottewill.com


Subscriptions manager Heather Milligan


info.asianart@btinternet.com tel +44 (0)20 7229 6040


Subscriptions and administration Asian Art Newspaper PO Box 22521 London W8 4GT United Kingdom


info.asianart@btinternet.com tel +44 (0)20 7229 6040 fax +44 (0)20 7084 7713 Esecure payment system available on asianartnewspaper.com for back issues, subscriptions and digital editions


Changes of address Information as above


Annual print subscription (8 issues a year) UK £45


Rest of Europe £50 Rest of World £55 US residents US$90 (including airmail postage) Monthly except for Winter Quarter (Dec-Feb) and


Summer Quarter (June-Aug)


£30/US$48 digital subscription Add £10/$16 to print subscription for a print and digital subscription


Copyright 2017 © The Asian Art Newspaper The Asian Art Ltd


All rights reserved. No part of this newspaper may be reproduced without written consent. The Asian Art Newspaper is not responsible for the statements expressed in contributed articles and commentaries.


Advertisments are accepted in good faith, but are the responsibility of the advertiser and The Asian Art Newspaper is not liable for any claims made in advertisements.


Price guides and values are solely for readers’ reference and The Asian Art Newspaper accepts no legal responsibility for any such information published.


ISSN 1460-8537


Visit us online www.asianartnewspaper.com Follow us on twitter AsianArtPaper


Join our Facebook page Asian Art Newspaper


Prabhakar Pachpute By Olivia Sand


Even before completing his art studies, Prabhakar Pachpute (b 1986 in India) began exhibiting his work, turning rapidly into a frequently sought- after artist for leading international biennales and triennales. Indeed, such exhibitions, where scale is less of an issue than in commercial galleries, allowed Prabhakar Pachpute to let his work be guided by spontaneity, often completing oversized wall drawings that could fill an entire room. His ability to master such large works is matched by an intelligent and creative way to address a topic that the artist had grown up with, namely coal mining. In a country where coal mining is still very much present, Prabhakar Pachpute has conceived of a sharp, yet surreal, approach when describing labour conditions, the issue of abandoned mines, as well as the situation of local people. An outstanding draftsman, he is also incorporates other media in his work, such as sculpture and film. Currently based near Bombay, he speaks about his practice with the Asian Art Newspaper and how he has managed to create an artistic language that highlights a rather dark topic in an engaging way.


are going to present in Gwangju? PP: Te museum in Marseille has a very large collection featuring a wide variety of objects. I was interested in their farming and agricultural tools and consequently I took many photographs of these French tools, as well as from other areas of Europe and various Mediterranean countries. I was looking at the connection between Indian civilisation and Indian farming tools. As I also rely a lot on tools in my own work, they clearly caught my attention, like the plough, for example, which is also used for cultivation. Te same goes for hammers and for some special sticks that are also used to control bulls and buffaloes. Depending on the organisation in Gwangju and on the exact allotment of the exhibition space, I will probably present a wall mural with some sculptural objects.


Prabhakar Pachpute. All images courtesy Prabhakar Pachpute and Experimenter


ASIAN ART NEWSPAPER: You have recently been in Marseille, France, conducting research over the summer. In what context were you there? PRABHAKAR PACHPUTE: I made a trip to Marseille to the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisation with a view to research a project that is taking place in Gwangju in October


2017. Te trip was a result of a collaboration between the ACC (Asia Cultural Center) in Gwangju and the museum in Marseille. Both institutions invited artists to visit their collection and respond to these collections or stories relating to the institutions.


AAN: Have you reached any conclusions in regard to what you


NEWS IN BRIEF


With an aim to share significant aspects of Chinese contemporary art and culture with American audiences, this annual event will present outstanding contributors from the creative industries of film, visual arts, music, and fashion. Te Festival brings together a combination of highly acclaimed and emerging artists, designers, film directors and intellectuals to showcase the identities and creative forces in modern-day China, including Song Dong, Yu Fan, Li Jun, Lu Yang and Cai Shangjun, amongst others. More information on bcaf.org.cn


V&A GALLERY, SHENZHEN Te Design Society, a new cultural hub featuring the V&A Gallery, will open to the public on 2 December 2017 in Shekou, Shenzhen with a series of public events including a talks programme, workshops and special performances held between 2 to 3 December 2017. Located in the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shekou, Shenzhen, Design Society is an open and collaborative platform that will connect China to the world, and empower the inter-connectivity between design and society, design and everyday life, and design and industry. Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in China, driven by its dynamic manufacturing base and emerging creative industries. Te collaboration is first of its kind between a UK museum and a Chinese partner, the China


ASIAN ART OCTOBER 2017


Merchants Shekou Holdings (CMSK . Te collaboration is multi-faceted and includes the provision of professional advice and training by the V&A to help CMSK establish and develop a world-class design museum; the presentation of two major touring V&A exhibitions; and the development of a V&A Gallery devoted to international design opening with the site specific exhibition, Values of Design. More information on designsociety.cn


FREER/SACKLER REOPENING, WASHINGTON DC A monumental installation, Terminal, by internationally acclaimed artist Subodh Gupta (b 1964, India) is on display at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery as part of the Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery reopening this month. On view from 14 Oct to 24 June 2018, the installation also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Sackler opening in 1987. Gupta will speak about his work Sunday, 15 October as part of the Freer/Sackler IlluminAsia Festival, a weekend of programmes celebrating the museums’ reopening.


ASIA NOW, PARIS Tis small ‘boutique’ art fair, now in its third year, takes place from 18 to 22 October at 9 Avenue Hoche, Paris, and includes 28 international and French galleries that deal in contemporary Asian Art. Works of art from more China, Japan and


Korea lead the way and includes a programme co-ordinated by Korean curator Joanne Kim, in collaboration with the Busan Biennial curatorial team with a focus on the works of Jooyoung Kim. More information on asianowparis.com


SIR JOSEPH HOTUNG GALLERY,


BRITISH MUSEUM Te British Museum will open the renovated Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia on the 10 November on the 25th anniversary of the original opening. Te display will include a new narrative for China and South Asia which will bring the story up to the present day. Tis will allow the museum to add different types of objects to the gallery such as paintings, prints and textiles which need regulated conditions for display. Te gallery will introduce new research that will enable visitors to engage with these extraordinarily important parts of the world. With its new lighting and design, the display will take visitors through the fascinating histories of a large part of the globe.


INVISIBLE CITIES, DALLAS Te Crow Collection of Asian Art, in partnership with Dallas Contemporary and the Moving Image Archive for Contemporary Art: MIACA (Hong Kong), is presenting Invisible Cities, an exhibition and screening series showcasing more than 20 contemporary video works by


renowned and emerging artists from China, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Tailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. Exhibited as a series of video installations and screenings at the Crow Collection of Asian Art and Dallas Contemporary, these pivotal works represent recent key developments in moving image art in Asia. Invisible Cities runs until 17 December. Presented as a compilation of fragmentary urban images, this project addresses perceptions of various Asian cities in the collective mind. In their vignettes, artists reference traces of colonialism, globalisation, and the political aspects of urban development to examine the concept of the ‘perpetual foreigner’ within contemporary cosmopolitan culture. More information on dallascontemporary.org and crowcollection.org


SOUTH ASIAN FESTIVAL, MANCHESTER New North and South is a network of 10 organisations in the North of England and South Asia, along with the British Council, who are creating a three-year programme of co- commissions, exhibitions and intellectual exchanges. A huge range of events are running in Manchester at Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, the Whitworth, HOME, Band on the Wall and Z arts. Information on whitworth.manchester.ac.uk


AAN: During your student days, you used to sketch a lot. By definition, sketching is an intimate, small-scale medium. How did you get from small sketches to mastering huge wall pieces with such ease? PP: I used to do small-to-big scale drawings while I was studying. If, today, I now complete big-wall pieces, it is a matter of practice, as I have gained experience over the years. In addition, it also depends on my understanding of the form and human scale, or whatever proportion I need to rely on to produce the


Continued on page 4


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36