IAAC Bring Indian Art and Theater to New York
- Details
- Parent Category: Film and the Arts
- Category: Previews
- Published on Monday, 12 March 2012 17:25
- Written by Renzo Adler
Since 1998, the Indo-American Art Council (IAAC) has been unifying the arts of traditional, modern, and immigrant Indian culture in New York. This March, they have two special events, Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora 
(March 17- April 20, Crossing Arts Queens 136-17 39th Ave, Flushshing ) and Parts of Parts & Stitches (March 15-31, The Theater at 14th St Y, 334 East 14th Street, New York, NY). Erasing Borders is an innovative art exhibition that looks at where Indian-Americans are today and where they are going, and Parts of Parts is a play that looks at where they have come from and struggles that persist. The IAAC is a not-for-profit secular arts organization passionately dedicated to promoting, showcasing and building an awareness of artists of Indian origin in the performing arts, visual arts, literary arts and folk arts.
Parts of Parts & Stitches is set against the backdrop of a wedding on the eve of the 1947 Partition between India and Pakistan. Two families in the Punjab region eagerly await the marriage of a loving couple, Yamuna and Jiwan, but they now must deal with the bloody conflict between Hindus and Muslims and the fall out of India without Great Britain. Yamuna must now pull her life back together in a world torn asunder by conflict. Performed in conjunction with Maieutic Theater Works, an award winning not-for-profit theater company, Parts of Parts is written by Riti Sachdeva directed by Cat Parker.
The Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora deals with many of the issues that Indian immigrants deal with today such as sexuality, terror, disease, the environment, racial and sectarian politics. With over 35 participating artists, Borders combines Indian aesthetics with Western elements and utilizes a wide range of mediums. Artists include Mustafa Faruki, Mansoora Hassan, Pritika Chowdhry, and Tara Sabharwal. This is the eighth year of the Erasing Borders show and it is free and open to the public.
These two events are an excellent look into the world of modern and traditional Indian art, as well as a thoughtful examination of politics and conflict between cultures.
To learn more about Erasing Borders and Parts of Parts, go to http://www.iaac.us
Erasing Borders Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora
March 17-April 20
Crossing Art Queens
136-17 39th Avenue (at Main Street)
Ground Floor Flushing, NY 11354
Parts of Parts & Stitches
March 15-31
The Theater at 14th St Y
334 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10009