Outset supported the Serpentine Gallery's 2008 exhibition, Indian Highway, with the production of Nikhil Chopra's Yog Raj Chitrakar, Drawing V. Following the remarkable and rapid economic, social and cultural developments in India in recent years, Indian Highway was a timely presentation of the pioneering work being made. The culmination of extensive research across India, this group exhibition offered a snapshot of a vibrant generation of artists working across a range of media. The exhibition included both internationally recognised and emerging art practitioners and featured a special project curated by Raqs Media Collective (Jeebesh Bagchi, Monica Narula, Shuddhabrata Sengupta).
The artworks explored various topics connected to the theme of Indian Highway, from the significance of the road in movement and migration to the ‘information superhighway’ which was a central factor in India’s economic boom. They were all woven together by the notion of active political and social engagement in complex issues affecting contemporary India, such as environmentalism, religious sectarianism, globalisation, gender, sexuality and class. M. F. Husain, India’s most acclaimed artist specially created a series of new paintings to accompany and contextualise the work of the younger generation of artists which was presented on a structure around the exterior of the building, designed by architects Nikolaus Hirsch and Michel Müller.
To complement the exhibition, the Serpentine saluted Indian cinema with screenings, from special previews of new films and classics, through the eyes of Indian directors.
Indian Highway was curated by Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist, Directors at the Serpentine Gallery, and Gunnar B. Kvaran, Director at the Astrup Fearnley Museum, in association with Rebecca Morrill and assisted by Leila Hasham, in consultation with specialists from the region and beyond.
