Contemporary Indian art on display at museum

The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers, 71 Hamilton St., on the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, is presenting an exhibition representing new perspectives on 21st-century art from India.

“New Narratives: Contemporary Art from India” is the first U.S. exhibition that embodies the shift from established artists of the mid-20th century to a new generation now associated with contemporary art in India. A full-color, 120-page hardcover catalog accompanies the show.

The exhibition was organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and curated by Betty Seid, an independent curator, formerly of the Asian Art Department of The Art Institute of Chicago. Johan Pijnappel, a Dutch writer and critic who has lived in India for many years, served as the exhibition’s consulting curator for video and new media.

Contemporary art in India deals with the presentation of stories, ideas, histories and memories- narratives. Some artists explore their world through the use of stream of consciousness, through the portrayal of dreams, through investigating family lineage or using episodic self-portraiture, while others produce imagery based on daily rituals, politics or literature.

“New Narratives” features works by 21 artists, including Anju and Atul Dodiya, Reena and Jitish Kallat, Nalini Malani, Vivan Sundaram, Arpita Singh, Shilpa Gupta and Gulammohammed Sheikh.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Fridays, noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $3 for adults; free of charge for individuals under age 18, museum members, and Rutgers students, faculty and staff (with identification). Admission is free for all audiences on the first Sunday of every month.

For more information, call (732) 932- 7237, ext. 610.

“New Narratives” is part of an ongoing series of exhibitions and events featuring Indian and Indian-American art at the Zimmerli. The events reflect a larger project, the South Asian Regional Initiative (SARI), in which the Zimmerli Art Museum, the State Theatre of New Jersey and the Middlesex County Cultural and Heritage Commission will present cultural programming of relevance to the Asian Indian community. SARI also includes music and dance performances, family programs, folk-art presentations, scholarly symposia, a business summit and health-care programs. The three cultural organizations work with the support of an advisory board of leaders from the New Jersey South Asian community.