Gond Artists: Beasts and Birds Curated by Kate Potter

Vernacular Lounge

In a departure from the usual exhibitions held in the Vernacular Lounge the Depot Artspace is pleased to host a show which features the work of Madhya Pradesh-based Gond artists, Bhajju Shyam, Ram Singh Urveti, Durga Bai, Rajendra Shyam and Dilip Shyam. Kate Potter, who spent time in central India, has curated this exhibition of works she returned to New Zealand with.

The artwork is pertinent to the Vernacular Lounge as it embodies and reflects a discourse, engendered here by the Depot’s exploration of the local vernacular, on the features which contribute to a distinctive, definitive and ever-evolving cultural identity – the means by which we come to know, understand and represent ourselves in the world as inhabitants of a particular place.

In its recent and increasing cultural diversity there is something for New Zealand to learn from the way in India, and the Gonds in this instance, ‘not only acknowledges its rich pluralistic existence but also re-configures the definition of contemporary.’ — Yashodhara Dalmia