Objects of Authority: Embroideries and Other Contemporary Arts from Western India

June 5 - July 17, 2014
Opening Reception, June 6 | 5 - 7:30 pm

The exhibition, Objects of Authority, curated by Cathleen Cummings, UAB Assistant Professor of Art History, and Cynthia Ryan, UAB Associate Professor of English, will feature approximately forty works of art produced in rural contexts in India over the last four to five decades.

"Objects of Authority" exhibition

Older, heirloom embroideries from Gujarat will be juxtaposed with those produced in the last two to three years under the aegis of Indian NGOs to highlight the effects of commodification on artistic production, and the aesthetic results. The exhibition will also feature paintings and textiles from Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, where similar aesthetic modifications have occurred as those in Gujarat, to draw attention to the intersections of market needs and artistic invention that have resulted in new aesthetic traditions cropping up across these regions.