Ancestral Futures

As part of its 35th-anniversary celebrations, Gallery Espace is proud to present Ancestral Futures, an exhibition curated by Swiss curator Damien Christinger. Running from October 18 to December 12, 2024, the show reflects on the gallery’s past while exploring contemporary art practices that look to the future.

Ancestral Futures examines the history of Gallery Espace, a leader in contemporary Indian art, and how it connects to today’s art practices. The exhibition offers an outside perspective on the gallery’s contributions to Indian and global art over the last 35 years.

The Curator, Damien Christinger says, "How do we celebrate the history of an art gallery that helped to shape the Indian art scene from 35 years ago until today? Or to ask this more generally: How do we bring our pasts into futures? Shared stories, individual experiences, cultural expressions, ideas of progress promised, fulfilled, or broken, dreams of achievements and growth. We can’t just dwell on the past, but the sole orientation towards the future might also blind us to what exists around us in the present. Ancestral Futures (a term first coined by Brazilian thinker Ailton Krenak) envisions possibilities of bringing these contradictions together. The concept of 'ancestral futures' intertwines the past, present, and future, positing that ancestral histories profoundly influence our understanding of time and identity. In the realm of art, this idea provides a rich tapestry for creative expression, prompting artists to engage with their heritage while imagining the possibilities that lie ahead. This exhibition explores the significance of ancestral futures in art, reflecting on how artists utilize their cultural narratives to challenge contemporary issues and envision hopeful trajectories."

Renu Modi, Founder/Director of Gallery Espace, adds, "Ancestral Futures is a unique show that looks at the gallery’s past in light of the art being practiced in contemporary times. Damian (Christinger)’s curatorial premise for the show offers an outside view of Gallery Espace’s history, indeed that of contemporary Indian art over the past 35 years. While rooted in an Indian aesthetic, the Gallery has always taken pride in being ahead of the times, be it with the two editions of Video Wednesdays, which were the first sustained video art programme by an Indian gallery. Take Harendra Kushwaha, who works with paper – a medium that the Gallery has long championed. His artwork in the show is a large mobile that hangs in the atrium space, which extends his practice in new directions. Similarly, Arunkumar HG will showcase in the new ‘project space’ on the floor above his new body of work featuring a series of lenticular prints that address the environmental degradation of the Western Ghats."

Words Platform Desk
Date 18.10.2024