Collaborators:   Amritha Dhawan, Pondicherry

                         Madhavi Subrahmanian, Mumbai

                         Vineet Kacker, New Delhi

While there is a rich tradition of folk pottery in India, this ceramic art clearly belongs to the twentieth century. Anjali Khanna, and her collaborators Amrita Dhawan, Vineet Kacker and Madhavi Subramanian, feel that ceramic artists in India are now increasingly being exposed to worldwide artistic developments in the medium. The sources of inspiration to ceramic artists have broadened considerably. And so they set out to collectively interrogate the role of ceramics in public spaces, thereby viewing the art in a larger perspective.

This grant enables the four ceramic artists with different interests and styles of work to share and integrate their individual artistic experiences in order to create a permanent installation at a public site. The collaborators have a three-fold objective. They would like to redefine the context within which ceramics in India is made and viewed, investigate the role of art in public spaces and extend their individual practices. They will reflect on their own positions and practices in order to widen the understanding of the medium and also explore new sources of inspiration. Through the notion of public art, the collaborators will strive to reconnect ceramic art with public spaces and built urban forms.

While the collaborators have a long experience of working with clay, the techniques and skills each of them will use are different. Amrita Dhawan likes to play with surface and texture in her work and is trying to move away from pure functionality by exploring other contexts of ceramic practice. Anjali Khanna’s functional pottery is informed by her involvement with environmental and development issues. She will explore the role and purpose of art in public spaces from a socio-cultural perspective. Vineet Kacker’s background in architecture and interior design has influenced his murals and sculptures. He is currently exploring ideas and forms related to the Himalayan landscape, and is particularly interested in issues of scale and the relationship between built urban form and art. Having worked as an artist and a curator, Madhavi Subramanian is keen to explore the different ways in which ceramics can be viewed. Her contribution to the collaboration will be her experience in working with abstract ideas and forms.

The work plan encompasses periods of interactive work interspersed with individual research and exploration. During the initial two month work phase the collaborators will identify the possible sites, prepare sketches of the potential public art work and decide on the material to be used. The end result will be a permanent ceramic installation at a chosen public site. This collaborative process of creation of public art will be made available to the larger community by documentation through sketches, slides and photographs.

March, 2001