INDIANAMA IS AN INCLUSIVE PLATFORM THAT CURATES AND SHOWCASES THE WORK OF MULTI-DISCIPLINARY ARTISTS, ACROSS BOUNDARIES. A SINGLE VISION BINDS THEM ALL – TO EXPRESS INDIA THROUGH DIVERGENT AND UNIFYING IDEAS/IDEOLOGIES THAT MAKE THE COUNTRY.
INDIANAMA 2019
Indianama's 2019’s edition was about India’s history. This country of ours has never been a simple place. Indeed, a lot has been written and said of its incredible diversity and its storied history. But the India we see today wasn’t so easily made.
The 2019 edition took a look back at how we got here—politically, economically, culturally, uncategorizably. By taking some moments in history, and exploring what might have happened if those events panned out differently. Indianama 2019 collaborated with 52 artists on various topics to envision alternate versions of India.
The artists researched their given topics and envisioned alternate timeline in their own unique style (from graphics and typography to illustration and photography).
The requisite deliverable was a 30in x 30in Square Poster accompanied by a write up.
THE GLOBAL NRI COMMUNITY SETS IN MOTION A ‘REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN’
~1998
Pokhran doesn’t sit well with the top brass, including the likes of China, the US, Canada, and Japan. Harsh sanctions are imposed on India; this violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty will not go unpunished. But for the Indian diaspora in these countries, it is simply a case of the big boys not wanting to share. Why is it that only the rich and powerful that get to play with nukes, they wonder. Incensed, they stage a mass exodus: it is their grey matter that’s powering these economies, after all. And so, by the end of 1998, thousands of NRIs running businesses overseas return home, eager to invest into their homeland.
Now that didn’t happen, but what if it did?
History is, after all, a game of chance.
My concept is centred around Indian society and behaviour, rooted in an alternate model of development for the Indian economy.
THE NEW TIMELINE
With NRIs back after Pokhran II, the liberalisation of the Indian economy finds new direction. Indian labour intensive products soar as manufacturing is given due attention and gaps and frauds in our infrastructure development are exposed early on leading to infrastructure development being privatised. India starts heavily exporting textiles and electronic goods and begins competing with China in low cost manufacturing. The American recession in 2008 doesn't hit India too hard as we've been exporting to Russia, UK, France and other countries that were not as condemning of Pokhran II.
in 2019, India is a south Asian Hegemony competing with China. However, India is not like the four Asian Tigers, or Japan, or China. India's diversity presents unique challenges. Our society is fractured by religion, caste, creed, gender, language, culture and behaviour. We are "Marwadi, Punjabi, Brahim" etc before we are Indian. Our NRIs have shown overwhelming support and sympathy for the current government. The cult like behaviour of organisations like ISKON is also hard to overlook.
In this timeline, in 2019, we've truly, successfully built ourselves up from a poor, socialist country but we've done this standing on the shoulders of those in the lower rungs of society. We continue to retain our bias towards English and leave huge swathes of people in the dust. As is habit, we form well connected cliques that push each other up the ladder.
I was tempted to imagine an Indian utopia but I figured it would be more honest and relevant to imagine an India which has achieved its economic goals but retains its characteristic behaviour.
in 2019, India is a south Asian Hegemony competing with China. However, India is not like the four Asian Tigers, or Japan, or China. India's diversity presents unique challenges. Our society is fractured by religion, caste, creed, gender, language, culture and behaviour. We are "Marwadi, Punjabi, Brahim" etc before we are Indian. Our NRIs have shown overwhelming support and sympathy for the current government. The cult like behaviour of organisations like ISKON is also hard to overlook.
In this timeline, in 2019, we've truly, successfully built ourselves up from a poor, socialist country but we've done this standing on the shoulders of those in the lower rungs of society. We continue to retain our bias towards English and leave huge swathes of people in the dust. As is habit, we form well connected cliques that push each other up the ladder.
I was tempted to imagine an Indian utopia but I figured it would be more honest and relevant to imagine an India which has achieved its economic goals but retains its characteristic behaviour.
PHIR BHI DIL HAI HINDUSTANI
A gleaming Times Square like scene- Shiny, busy, bustling with life. Indian brands grace large hoardings, displays and glitzy public interfaces. A closer look reveals traffic signals being ignored, people spitting pan on the gleaming pavements, men hooting at unaccompanied women, advertisements for Fair & Lovely and an interactive installation of Ayodhya's new Ram statue. We've achieved The Indian American Dream.
