Author Description

From 25 May to 19 September 2011, the Centre Pompidou is to present a major exhibition that explores Indian society through the eyes of Indian and French artists. The fruit of an unprecedented Franco-Indian collaboration, Paris-Delhi-Bombay is intended to promote communication between the two cultures, establishing new and lasting links. Taking the form of a unique confrontation of perspectives, this pioneering project draws on the experiences and visions of creative artists: how is India seen by Indian and French artists? More than fifty artists offer their take on the profound changes being undergone by Indian society, looking at questions of politics (the foundations of democracy, the issue of partition, the rise of the middle classes), belief (religion, spirituality...), identity (national, regional, sexual, caste...), urban development (rural exodus, growth of the megalopolis), craft production (tradition and modernity, cultural heritage and contemporary technologies) and domestic life (family, marriage, women's emancipation, cookery...). Indian and French artists cast new light on the India of today, offering their own interpretation of this complex society. For most of the French artists invited to participate in this exhibition, their involvement in the project was what took them to India for the first time. More than two-thirds of the works were produced specifically for this event, novel contributions to a stimulating and surprising debate. With its exciting and rapidly expanding art scene, India is the largest democracy in the world, a new economic actor of the first importance on the world scene, and the second most populous country on the planet. As such, it is the object of enormous interest to French and European publics, often generating great passion, yet it remains a distant land but poorly understood. The goal of Paris-Delhi-Bombay is to bring these two cultures together through their artists, and in so doing to cast a new light on this young, fas