Australian Exhibition of Indian Art

The Australian National Gallery is currently holding its first major exhibition of Indian art, entitled 'The Vision of Kings: Art and Experience in India'. The exhibition is running in Canberra until 4 February 1996, and will then move onto Melbourne on 25 February 1996.

For those subscribers living in Australia, I thoroughly recommend seeing this exhibition. The exhibition has a large collection of works, which are arranged thematically by religion. There is a mix of Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism and tribal art, containing a variety of sculptures and paintings. The exhibition is most effective primarily because of the care that has been taken to recreate the space of Indian architecture as an element of display. For example, in the Hinduism space the pieces have been placed in recreated alcoves, that surround a courtyard space (tree and all) which is so central to the Hindu temple.

The exhibition does not focus on women as a theme as such, but a large number of the works do focus on various goddesses, including many of the tribal feminine figures incorporated into the mainstream religions. The exhibition does provide interesting perspectives of women's role in Indian art.

The ANG has also been making a special effort to promote several cultural events ranging from seminars, to viewings of Hindi movies, Indian cooking classes and kite making classes. There are a number of events planned for 26 January, Independence Day, which will include a dance performance by the Padma Mehnon Dance Company.

This exhibition appears to be the beginning of a series of Australia-India events for 1996. Later in 1996 the Australian Government is promoting a trade-cultural trip to India.

Ms. Alison G. Aggarwal
Australian National University

Call for papers for an anthology

Gender and Space: South/Southeast Asia

We invite critical essays for an interdisciplinary anthology on the conceptualization of space in South and Southeast Asian contexts in the 19th and 20th centuries. The emphasis is on a feminist analytics of women's and men's experiences of space in such topics as political, social, and/or psychic cartographies of imperialism, nationhood, urbanization, technological production (cyberspace, etc.), (e)migration, enforced/ chosen exile, and cosmopolitanism. Papers might also consider how narratives (visual, written, spoken, enacted), spatial designs, and sociocultural practices configure race, class, gender (also transgendering), sexuality, religion/ spirituality, and the politics of public and private realms inside, between, and outside predetermined boundaries.

Countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, India, Laos, Indonesia, Singapore, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, and the Philippines.

Send 2-3 page proposals or papers (25--30 pages) by May 15, 1996 to Esha Niyogi De (UCLA) or Sonita Sarker (Macalester College) at [email protected] or mail to S. Sarker, Women's and Gender Studies, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105.

ATTENTION: A panel on this subject, chaired by Esha Nigoyi De and respondent Sonita Sarker, has been presented at the Modern Language Association in Chicago. Place: Chicago Ballroom C, Chicago Marriott Date: Friday, 29 December 1995

Sonita Sarker                  Assistant Professor
Women's Studies and English    Macalester College
Office Phone: (612)696-6316    Fax: (612)696-6430 
e-mail:[email protected]