Looking to the Future

How do these artists explore India’s changing role in the world?

Jan / Feb 2020

Each year, India is becoming more important as a major player in the world’s economy. The two contemporary artists featured here explore India’s future in today’s world. In their own ways, they each ask what it means to be part of a global society.

Today, India continues to grow. The country’s part in matters around the world is expanding. The works shown here explore how India is changing, and how it might change in the future.

Perspectives on the World

N.S. Harsha (HAHR-shah) lives and works in Mysore, a city in southern India. He has exhibited his art worldwide from Europe to South America to Australia. His 2007 Nations, above, is an installation that he’s shown in several countries, including China and Japan.

Nations includes 192 sewing machines. Each sewing machine appears to be sewing a flag representing one of the countries in the United Nations. The United Nations is an international organization that works toward peaceful global relationships.

Harsha created each flag by painting a canvas with the flag design on one side. “I’ve left the other side of the flag empty to ask the question of whether the idea of nationhood is being project[ed] outward only,” he explains. The sewing machines are all linked with thread, symbolically suggesting that the United Nations would unravel if any member were to depart.

The sewing machines are likely to remind Indian viewers of the charkha (CHUHR-kuh), a spinning wheel. Mohandas Gandhi, who led India to independence from British rule in 1947, often spoke of the charkha. He believed it would be key to India’s successful self-sufficiency after independence. By exploring this symbol, which is specific to India, in combination with flags symbolizing the United Nations, Harsha creates a work with a uniquely Indian perspective as well as a global one.

N.S. Harsha (HAHR-shah) lives in Mysore, a small city in southern India. He has shown his art all over the world. His 2007 work Nations, above, is an installation that fills a room. Harsha has brought it to several countries, including China and Japan.

To make Nations, Harsha includes 192 sewing machines. Each one appears to sew a flag from one of the countries in the United Nations. The United Nations, or the UN, is an international organization. Its members work to keep peace among the countries that are a part of it.

Harsha created each flag by painting on one side of a canvas.He linked the sewing machines together with thread. He does this to show that all the countries in the UN are connected. The design suggests that the UN would unravel if any country left the group.

The sewing machines might remind Indian viewers of the charkha (CHUHR-kuh), a spinning wheel. It's a device that spins yarn or thread. In the past, the charkha has symbolized India's independence. By including many flags and hinting at the charkha, Harsha shares the experiences of people from India and elsewhere.

Technology That Transforms

Reena Kallat (b. 1973), Siamese Trees (detail), 2014. Electric wire, metal ring, motion sensor, LED assembling rope light, 72x60in. (183x152cm). Courtesy of Reena Kallat. Photograph by Iris Dreams.

Can you spot this plug in the image above?

As India grows rapidly and transforms, it has become known as a communications and technology capital of the world. More than 2 million people in India work in information technology, and the country has the world’s second-largest internet user population.

Reena Kallat (REE-nah kah-LAHT) lives and works in Mumbai. The artist is interested in memory as well as how we transmit ideas and information. She works in multiple media, including drawing, photography, sculpture, and video. She also explores materials used in communications technology, as in her 2014 Siamese Trees, right. It includes electrical wire, a metal ring, a motion sensor, and LED rope lights.

The metal ring provides the structure for the sculpture. It also might remind viewers of the frames used to hold embroidery cloth, referencing an important artistic tradition in India. Kallat’s use of the ring creates a connection to the past, as her use of modern wires and sensors hints at the future.

Kallat depicts two joined, or “Siamese,” trees. By using materials associated with technology to represent subjects that appear in nature, she asks questions about how the natural world might be lost, forgotten, or transformed with new technologies. Although the trees are joined, they are different species, which also lends a fantastical element to the artwork.

Harsha and Kallat both invite viewers to think about India’s future. Look back at the works shown on pages 6-9. Can you find other examples in which the artists consider India’s future as well as its past and present? How do they achieve this?

India is considered a technology center of the world. More than 2 million people work in computer programming and other technology positions there. The country also has the world’s second-largest amount of internet users. Artist Reena Kallat (REE-nah kah-LAHT) explores materials that are used in technology. The Mumbai artist works with drawing, photography, sculpture, and video.

To make her 2014 Siamese Trees, right, Kallat uses materials connected to technology to show two connected trees. She includes electric wire, a metal ring, a motion sensor, and LED lights. These are common parts in computers and smartphones. She invites viewers to consider how technology can transform nature.

The metal ring acts as the work’s structure. It looks like the frames used to hold traditional Indian embroidery cloth. Kallat includes the frame to create a connection between India’s past and future.

These artists explore India’s place in the world. Look back at the works shown on pages 6-9. Can you find other examples of artists connecting India’s past, present, and future? How do they accomplish this?