Satyaabrata Pal, High Commissioner of India will be the chief guest at the book launching of "Momory, Metaphor, Mutations - Contemporary Art of India and Pakistan" written by Salima Hashmi and Yashodhara Dalmia here at a local hotel on March 10.
The book draws on three vital aspects of contemporary Indian and Pakistani art: in the first past of the book, Salima Hashmi introduces the art practices of Pakistan, since partition, and their historical background. She goes on to discuss the subversive work of women artists, who have recently asserted themselves.
The second ends with an overview of artists who have blended rather uniquely the miniature tradition with contemporary trends.
The second part by Yashodhara Dalmia, begins with the historical development of art in India from the turn of the twentieth century to the present. There follows a focus on the Progressive Artists' Group, which leaned heavily towards modernism in the fifties and remains of paramount importance today.
The essay on women artists brings issues of self, country, and the world of the forefront. The last two chapters provide an account of the hybrid styles incorporated into the work of young artists, which are at once international and local.
Yashodhara Dalmia is an art historian and an independent curator based in New Delhi. She has written several essays, articles and reviews on contemporary Indian art. Salima Hsahmi is the Dean at the School of Visual Arts at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore. She taught at the National College of Arts, Lahore for 30 years.