Videos

This video is a recording of the panel discussion “Agrarian Distress” ਪੀੜਤ ਕਿਰਸਾਨੀ during the exhibition “Farmer is a Wrestler” ਘੁਲਦਾ ਕਿਰਸਾਨ by Thukral and Tagra ( known as T&T) at the invitation of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi at the Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Gallery, Chandigarh, held from 20th February to 6th March 2019, The exhibition was about the agrarian crisis in the country. Participants in this discussion were: Well known economist and expert on agriculture related research Professor Sucha Singh Gill, Punjabi authour Professor Baldev Singh Dhaliwal, artists Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra. This series of videos has been started at the initiative Diwan Manna, artist and President of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi for the video archives of PLKA. The exhibition addresses the urgency of the agrarian crisis faced by farmers in India today. Over the years, generational divisions of land, climate change, vote-bank politics, lack of implementation of law and the general deficit of formal education in rural communities has severely affected the lives and livelihoods of Indian farmers. Using the metaphor of sport and game, the exhibition draws parallels to act of kushti – a form of traditional Indian wrestling that is popular amongst rural communities. The wrestling bout depicts physical and mental struggle, endurance and resilience – which are all symbolic of the farmer fighting for his life against the agrarian crisis. The exhibition title Farmer is Wrestler pinpoints this very aspect of the farmers’ fate: a life which hangs in limbo. As natives of Punjab, Thukral and Tagra delve into their own personal histories and memories to address the socio-cultural changes most visible in their home state. Shifting family values, a desire for ‘escape’ via migration, and changing middle-class aspirations have all been recurring motifs in their work. This exhibition carries forward the artists use of ‘games’ as a tool to address complex issues through interactive and playful means. Their approach intends to give viewers a sense of nostalgia and comfort, while still challenging the status-quo. Sucha Singh Gill: M.A. (Economics), Ph.D., Punjabi University, Patiala Former Director-General, CRRID, Chandigarh. Former Professor & Head, Department of Economics, Punjabi University, Patiala Former Dean, Academic Affairs, Dean, Social Sciences and Dean Research, Punjabi University, Patiala Vice-President of Indian Association of Social Science Research Institutions (IASSI), Elected President for Annual Conference for Indian Society of Labour Economics. Areas of Specialization: Development Economics, International Economics, Punjab Economy. Thukral and Tagra: JitenThukral (1976) Jalandhar, Punjab, India BFA, Government College of Art Chandigarh; MFA, New Delhi College of Art SumirTagra (1979) New Delhi, India Shankar’s Academy of Arts, New Delhi, BFA, New Delhi College of Art, PG, National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad JitenThukral and SumirTagra work collaboratively with a wide range of media including painting, sculpture, installations, interactive games, video, performance and design. Thukral&Tagra work on new formats of public engagement and attempt to expand the scope of what art can do. Over the years they have had notable exhibitions at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Arken Museum in Denmark, Kunstmuseum in Bochum, Lyon Museum of Contemporary Art in France, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Art Gallery of Alberta in Canada, Fed @ KCAD Galleries in Michigan, Dubai Design Week in Dubai, BhauDaji Lad Museum in Mumbai, BTAP Gallery and Tokyo Art Fair in Tokyo, Arario Gallery in Seoul, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Art Statements, Art Basel 38, India Ceramics Triennale @ JKk in Jaipur, NGMA in Mumbai, South Bank Centre in London, The Manchester Museum, Khoj in Delhi, Kunstmuseum Bochum in Germany, Herbert GerischStiftung Neumunster in Germany, Dairy Art Centre in London, UCCA in Beijing, Arken Museum of Modern Art in Denmark, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, Maxxi Museum in Rome, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Helsinki Art Museum in Finland, University Museum of Art in Melbourne, Venice Biennale, Wereld Museum in Rotterdam, Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei Kulturhuset in Stockholm, SESC Pompei in Sao Paulo, National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul, Essl Museum in Vienna, Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Arts 06-Queensland in Brisbane, Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, UCLA Fowler Museum in Los Angeles, The Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, Chatterjee&Lal in Mumbai, Nature Morte in Berlin, Gallery Barry Keldoulis in Sydney, Bose Pacia in New York, Art Plural Gallery in Singapore, Arario gallery in Seoul, Pearl Lam Gallery in Singapore. This year they have been invited to mount exhibitions at Quarry Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park in UK, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg in Stuttgart, Germany and Lille Tripostle in France.

This video interview of well known artist Anupam Sud was recorded at the time of the inauguration of the exhibition “The Printed Picture: Four Centuries of Indian Printmaking”, curated by Dr. Paula Sengupta for DAG held at Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Gallery. Ms. Sud was invited to inaugurate this prestigious exhibition in order to inspire the new generation of Print Makers as well as art enthusiasts. The video is a part of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi’s ongoing project of video archiving all the major artists, art historians, art critics, folk artists and other aspects related to visual arts of Punjab specifically and other parts of the country and globe in general. The project is an initiative of Diwan Manna, artist and President of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi. Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, in collaboration with DAG organised an exhibition “THE PRINTED PICTURE: FOUR CENTURIES OF INDIAN PRINTMAKING”, comprising artworks by the most significant artists of the country in which a selection of artworks created with the medium of print making was on display at the Gallery of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16 B, Chandigarh. Anupam Sud is one of the finest printmakers among the new generation of artists in India. Although she has taken up painting on large canvases, mostly in acrylic, her intaglio prints still hold their sway over her paintings. Anupam has been experimenting in different areas of the graphic medium, but what stands out is apparently her effortless infusion of different intaglio processes with screen-printing and lithography. There is little of the narrowly ‘feminist’ in her total oeuvre. Instead, her firmly drawn figuration of men and women draw our attention to the general human situation and to psychological tensions between man and woman and that between man and society. A large part of the charm of her intaglio and mixed- media prints lies in her treatment of chiaroscuro.More metaphorical than direct, her work is different from that of traditional printmakers in that she does not rely on the monochromatic quality, inherent in this medium, to make a statement. Anupam’s work has evolved in phases. From the rather architectural forms, limbs and human figures in the mid 1970s to largely feminist subjects in the late 1970s. As one of the founder members of GROUP 8 (1968), Anupam, with her printmaker colleagues, worked through this association to promote and sustain printmaking as an independent, expressive art form. Her work has been widely exhibited and appreciated. Apart from over a dozen solo shows all over the world, she has participated in many group exhibitions in cities in the US, UK, Italy, Korea, Switzerland and other countries. She has won numerous national and international awards for her excellence in printmaking. She has also conducted workshops in Canada and Japan. She lives and works in New Delhi.Working mainly with intaglio prints, Sud fuses her knowledge of different intaglio processes with lithography and screen-printing. Her zinc plates breathe with a life, now suggesting the contours of a sculpture, now hinting at the warmth of oils. But at all times restraint seems to be the keynote of her work. While her sympathies and concerns are often feminist, a recurring theme in her work is the common human predicament. Her subjects are often introspective and fatalistic – existing in a world that is falling apart. She acknowledges many influences: her father who had a love for bodybuilding, detective stories, Punjabi theatre, and her mother who appreciated classical music and read the Upanishads. She also grew as an artist under the guidance of Somnath Hore in Delhi, whose work she closely related to. Born January 15, 1944 – Hoshiarpur, Punjab Education · 1990 Study Tour of USA under CICA Fellowship. · 1971-72 Print MAking at Slade School ,London(British Council Scholarship). · 1963-67 Diploma(Fine Arts),College of Art ,New Delhi