Being Alive: Iram Art, Ahmedabad

Contemporary art and anthropological aesthetics converge in a dynamic dialogue, allowing insight into the complexities of our interconnected world. The roots of the relationship of art and anthropology are traced to Franz Boas. Boas, in his seminal work "Primitive Art" (1927), dismantled Eurocentric notions of cultural superiority, establishing the groundwork for appreciating non-Western artistic traditions. His emphasis on cultural relativism and the imperative to understand art within its cultural context set the stage for subsequent anthropological inquiries.

Continuing Boas's legacy, Claude Lévi-Strauss played a pivotal role in shaping the structuralist approach. In "The Savage Mind" (1962), Lévi- Strauss delved into the foundational processes underlying diverse cultural phenomena, including art. His exploration of myth as a communicative and expressive form provided a framework for understanding the symbolic dimensions of artistic production across various societies.

Alfred Gell's "Art and Agency" (1998) marked a notable departure from preceding methodologies. Gell spotlighted the significance of art objects, proposing that artworks possess the agency to influence society. His examination of how art functions as a social catalyst ignited debates regarding the essence of art and its role in shaping human behaviour and interpersonal connections, placing his work in many regards on the lines of Arnold Hauser’s Social History of Art.

Howard Morphy redirected attention to indigenous art and its significance within distinct cultural contexts, as evident in "Ancestral Connections: Art and an Aboriginal System of Knowledge" (1991). Morphy's research emphasised the intricate interplay between art and indigenous knowledge systems, stressing the importance of considering artistic forms within their cultural, historical, and spiritual frameworks.

In the contemporary landscape, Tim Ingold has been instrumental in reshaping the connection between art and anthropology. In "Being Alive: Essays on Movement, Knowledge, and Description" (2011), Ingold advocates for an anthropology of creativity, urging scholars to move beyond analysing finished art pieces and engage with the actual processes of artistic creation. His concepts have opened new vistas for investigating the evolving and fluid characteristics of artistic methodologies.

Another important figure, Anna Tsing in her work often delves into multispecies ethnography, exploring the complex relationships between humans and other organisms. Tsing's anthropological lens embraces the idea that humans are entangled in a web of relationships with diverse species, and she critically examines the implications of these entanglements for both local and global ecosystems. By emphasising the relational nature of life on Earth, Tsing's perspective challenges conventional boundaries within the discipline, urging scholars to consider the broader ecological context in their anthropological inquiries. Her interdisciplinary approach reflects a commitment to addressing urgent environmental issues and encourages a reevaluation of anthropological methodologies in light of contemporary ecological challenges.

From Boas's cultural relativism to Lévi-Strauss's structuralism, Gell's examination of art as agency, Morphy's study of indigenous art, to Ingold's emphasis on the anthropology of creativity and Tsing’s approach that goes beyond traditional human-centric perspectives, the exhibition builds a framework for examining the larger ways of looking at the part, and present.

The exhibition proposes viewing the works of the selected artists through the conceptual sections of Cultural Hybridity and Relativism, Indigenous Perspectives and Agency of the Objects in their relation, Ecological Concerns and the Anthropocene, and the intersections of these. With works that push the boundaries of traditional forms and mediums, the exhibition becomes a fecund field with rich material for investigating cultural dynamics, identity politics, technological transformations, activism, and ecological challenges.

Curated by Satyajit Dave