INDIA: Contemporary Photographic and New Media Art

This book presents 48 contemporary artists and collectives working in dialogue with the long history and emergent future of India and its people. Its focus lies on the contemporary moment through a range of approaches, including art photography, new media, installation, moving image, journalism, and documentary photography. Themes include caste and class, the partitioning of the subcontinent, gender and sexuality, activism and conflict, racism, religion, nationalism, new technologies and development, the environment, human settlement, migration, and integration. "As a large, multilingual subcontinent, India has always relied on images to maintain a cohesive whole across myriad subcultures, regions, castes and languages. The introduction of photomechanical imaging in the nineteenth century enabled the rapid reproduction and dissemination of both spiritual and scientific ideals. Photography for most of its history was too expensive and technical, and was left in the hands of 'experts'-until the birth of digital technologies. The book addresses the legacy of the last twenty years, a period when photography and moving image media have been consistently included within critical exhibitions of fine art." (Sunil Gupta, Lead Curator) INDIA: Contemporary Photographic and New Media Art is edited by Steven Evans, FotoFest Executive Director and curator, with Sunil Gupta, Delhi-born artist and project lead curator, and includes essays from experts on the region and contemporary art.