Bridging cultural differences

In an attempt to sort out friction between the communities, Khoj International Artists’ Association is presenting Coriolis Effect: Currents across India and Africa’ at Khoj Studios, in the national Capital, Beginning on August 28, Coriolis Effect is an international exhibition featuring works of artists from India and Africa. 

The exhibition, resulting from a month-long residency, seeks to activate the social, economic and cultural relationship and historical exchange which exists between India and the continent of Africa. 

Bernard <g data-gr-id="27">Akoi</g>-Jackson (Ghana), Ethiraj Gabriel <g data-gr-id="28">Dattatreyan</g> (Africa/US), Juan <g data-gr-id="29">Orrantio</g> (Bogota,Colombia), <g data-gr-id="30">Amshu</g> Chukki (India) and Insurrections Ensemble (India/Africa) are the artists who are participating in this exhibition.

Sitara Chowfla, the program manager at Khoj said, “Stream of immigrants from the Indian Subcontinent, as well as migrants from countries such as Cameroon, Somali, Nigeria, Kenya, Afghanistan and Nepal, are residing in Khirki Extension. This <g data-gr-id="22">hotpot</g> of cultural difference has long been a source of friction between residents, often bubbling into acts of discrimination based violence. 

This project has grown out of a series of encounters and conversations which took place in and around Khoj through 2014.”

The works for the show were created during a <g data-gr-id="20">month long</g> residency where the artists sought to unpack notions of geography, memory, cultural exchange as well as the tension and fear of the ‘other’, through history. The Coriolis Effect will not only use the present context of 21st century migrations, but equally refer to various moments of exchange through history; from the recent past of the Non-Aligned movements in the 20th century, to the cultural relationship shared by Indians and Africans from the 1st century AD onwards.