The third edition of Jaipur Art Week, organised by the Public Art Trust of India, founded by Sana Rezwan will animate the city with a contemporary arts programme from 24th to 31st January 2024. Open and free for everyone, Jaipur Art Week will invite communities locally and from afar to be creative, learn and explore regardless of their association or generation.
In 1883, the Jaipur Exhibition made a significant change in how the world perceived India. For the first time, it celebrated Rajasthan’s culture on its own terms, exhibiting the work of the state’s artisans and the work of artists from the Jaipur School through a national lens, elevating their practice to international fame. The Jaipur Exhibition defined the city as a progressive model and not just an urban center.
Exploring alternative curatorial structures, it will showcase the work of 20+ emerging and mid-career artists (many exhibiting professionally for the first time), selected through an Open Call throughout venues across the city. The jury members for the 2024 edition were: Pooja Sood, Director at Khoj, Madeleine Haddon, Curator of Victoria & Albert East, and Hiba Schahbaz, Artist.
Hosting a week-long programme of exhibitions, site-specific installations, performances, open studio visits, architecture and food walks, artist-led exhibition tours, workshops with artists and artisans for all ages.
Connecting with the Albert Hall Museum’s expansive collections, the Archeology and Museum Department of Rajasthan, with the Public Art Trust of India, will present a series of newly commissioned exhibitions and performances by Indian and international contemporary artists. The Museum’s collection was founded with works from the 1883 Jaipur Exhibition.
During the Art Week, ‘Hindolo’, a new public artwork by Jaipur-based artist Bhimanshu Pandel will be announced. Commissioned in collaboration with interior design company Frozen Music, where Pandel has been an artist-in-residence, the work draws on the form of the Khejri tree through pre-colonial reminiscences observed in the intricacies of our folk traditions to explore our understanding of human coexistence in nature. One of the most common tree species in Rajasthan, the Khejri’s ability to remain evergreen in arid climates makes it vital to preserving local ecosystems. Hindolo’s abstract form explores the tree’s critial life force for desert communities, finding sensitivity and depth in the concerns we all face in today’s time.
Shilo Shiv Suleman’s sculpture, SHANKHA, will be exhibited for the first time in Jaipur in the walls of the city’s famous Hawa Mahal which will also host a performance by artist Indira Chowdhury. Hosted in collaboration with Jaipur Municipal Corporation Heritage Cell and Jaipur City of Crafts and Folk Art – UNESCO Creative Cities Network, the works emphasize the importance of Rajasthan’s cultural and monumental heritage.
A screening of Nina Sabnani’s three animated films Film Baat Wahi Hai (Its the Same Story), Makers of Tales (Kavaad) and Bemata will indulge audiences in narratives of Rajasthani myths and legends, followed by a Q&A with Nina and Kavaad craftsmen, Satyanarayan Suthar and Kojaram Rav, at the iconic Golcha Cinema. Additionally, a new collaborative work by Shalini Neeli Van Dooren and Lyla FreeChild will respond to the Cinema’s sweeping art deco curves for the duration of Jaipur Art Week.
Hasan Shahrukh’s unique and immersive solo exhibition, Bhavnagari – A Journey into Mythological Science Fiction and Accessibility in Jawahar Kala Kendra’s Chaturdik Gallery will transport visitors into the fascinating world of a long-lost village in Rajasthan. A group show of 10+ emerging artists from, and with connections to, Rajasthan will showcase their work with many exhibiting for the first time professionally.
Emerging artist, Ayushi Patni’s new series of delicate large-scale watercolour, gouache and mixed media works Altars and Altered States will enliven and respond to the iconic architecture of Jaipur’s old city.
Architecture Walking Tours with Bharat Singh of Jaipur Houses will explore the modern city and its tales of the past through an infrastructural lens.
Renowned academic, Dr Kristine Michael will present a unique take on the heritage of Jaipur’s blue pottery, the Albert Hall Museum’s ceramic collection and the recent rise in contemporary artists engaging clay as a medium within their practice. Hosted at Khanoom, there will be a tour of this historic factory and its recent renovation into a unique pottery studio.
A series of video art works by Chitra Ganesh, Manisha Gera Baswani, Paula Sengupta, Puneet Kaushik, Ravi Agarwal and Sonia Mehra-Chawla will be presented by Gallery Espace in a pop-up theatre at Frozen Music’s Narain Niwas Palace store.
Participating Artists: Ankur Yadav, Ayushi Patni, Ellinor Euler, Hasan Shahrukh, Indira Chowdhury, Shalini Neeli Van Dooren and Lyla FreeChild, Shilo Shiv Suleman, Wolf, Bhimanshu Pandel, Nishant Ghiya, Sundeep Bali, Garima Tripathi, Jayant Gupta, Megha Gupta, Tinkal Khatri, Narendra Kumar Sain, Akanksha Agarwal, Nidhi Paliwal and Vipin Jangir
Exhibition Venues in Jaipur: Albert Hall Museum, Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK), Hawa Mahal, Amrapali Museum and Golcha Cinema
Supported by: Rezwan Razack Family Trust, Rambagh Palace, Frozen Music, Rolls Royce, Silvia Furmanovich, Kilian Paris, Jaipur Rugs, Luxaviation and La Fugue and Flemish Government – Department of Culture, Youth & Media
In satellite to Jaipur Art Week, the Saat Saath Arts Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of Rajasthan, will open the fourth edition of the Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur on the 28th January. Curated by Peter Nagy, the exhibition presents works by Indian and international artists that will challenge our conceptions of what sculpture including work by: Avantika Bawa, Sudipta Das, Nandan Ghiya, Bhuvanesh Gowda, Murari Jha, Megha Joshi, Vineet Kacker, Suhasini Kejriwal, Per Kirkeby, Riyas Komu, Alicja Kwade and Martha-Marie LeBars