NEW DELHI.- One of the year’s most anticipated exhibitions, Homelands will travel to four cities (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru) across India in 2013.

Cutting to the heart of 21st century cultural relations, Homelands grapples with the relationship between self and place in a world of transitory identities and contested geographies. Culled from the art collection of the British Council, the exhibition is a unique take on contemporary British art by the Indian curator, Latika Gupta. Including more than 80 works by 28 leading modern and contemporary artists, Homelands excavates the idea of a ‘homeland’ to reveal a rich plurality of meaning; ideas of belonging, alienation, history and memory.

Homelands will roll out a multi-layered programme that includes public exhibitions in four major metros (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru), artist talks, seminars, curator-led walks, outreach activities and workshops.

Homelands is supported by an innovative network of public-private partnerships developed by the British Council, and epitomises a new and exciting funding model for public art in India. Key partners helping to bring the pan-Indian exhibition together include Christie’s and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. The outreach programme is also focused on developing and cultivating unique, local partnerships and encouraging dialogue and collaboration between Indian and UK institutions.

The exhibition will open in New Delhi on 22nd January 2013 at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), in Kolkata on 28th February 2013 at The Harrington Street Arts Centre, in Mumbai on 27th April 2013 at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and in Bengaluru in the last week of June 2013.



Works by 28 of the world’s leading contemporary artists from the British Council Collection will be showcased at the exhibition.

Angus Boulton | Fabien Cappello | Lisa Cheung | Nathan Coley | Jeremy Deller | Suki Dhanda | Jimmie Durham | Paul Graham | Graham Gussin | Mona Hatoum | Anthony Haughey | Tim Hetherington | Susan Hiller | David Hockney | Anthony Lam | Langlands & Bell | Richard Long | Rachel Lowe | Haroon Mirza | Raymond Moore | Cornelia Parker | Martin Parr | Grayson Perry | Zineb Sedira | George Shaw | David Shrigley | Bob and Roberta Smith | Gillian Wearing.

From this esteemed group of contemporary artists, there are 8 Turner Prize winners and nominees namely Jeremy Deller (winner, 2004), Richard Long (winner, 1989), Grayson Perry (winner, 2003), Gillian Wearing (winner, 1997), Mona Hatoum (nominee, 1995), Langlands & Bell (nominee, 2004), George Shaw (nominee, 2011) and Cornelia Parker (nominee, 1997). Tim Hetherington was the winner of World Press Photo in 2007.

Four of the showcased artists are being invited to visit the exhibition in India, including Mona Hatoum, Suki Dhanda and Zineb Sedira. During their stay, the artists will engage with audiences, give public talks and conduct workshops.

“The Homelands exhibition will showcase the very best art being produced by leading contemporary artists in Britain – a fitting juxtaposition to our international sales of works by their South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art contemporaries. The exhibition is an opportunity for us to lend our support to cultural and educational opportunities which are important milestones in the Indian cultural agenda for 2013.” - Menaka Kumari-Shah, Christie’s Head of India.

“Today, many of us move across national boundaries. We are born in one country, we make another our home. In the criss-crossing of political, social and cultural borders, we live our lives through hyphenated identities: belonging here and there; inhabiting multiple places - both physical and metaphorical. Geographies that can be mapped as inter/national boundaries and as places conjured up by through remembering and imagining. What constitutes a homeland? Is it ethnicity? Language? Religion? Customs and beliefs? Are homelands those in which our ancestors were born? What of outsiders who live and make other lands their homes? Where do we really belong? Where is it that we hope to one day return?” – Latika Gupta, Curator

“Homelands is the British Council’s flagship arts project of 2013. It’s exciting because it introduces work by 28 brilliant British artists to India; because it will reach tens of thousands of people, especially young people, with the best contemporary art; and because it demonstrates the value of international collaboration, with an Indian curator Latika Gupta offering a unique slant on a British art collection.

But most of all, it’s exciting because it asks such fundamental questions about a world that’s changing in front of our eyes, about the sometimes bewildering identity crisis that, for so many of us, constitutes modern life. Homelands demonstrates that art can help us learn about the world around us: but also, that it can help us learn about ourselves.” – Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India