Graffiti painting in public space, experimental dance performance, workshops, lectures, an exhibition, video screenings and music. The Urban Avant-Garde presents contemporary artists from various disciplines, who unconventionally expand urban cultures’ modes of expression.
The project takes place within the framework of Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities in cooperation with Malleswaram Accessibility Project (www.yourmap.in), Directorate of Urban Land Transport – Govt. of Karnataka, Jaaga and Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore.
Venue partners and Organisers include – Jaaga, NGMA, Attakalari, Samir Akika/Unusual Symptoms and curators Robert Kaltenhauser and Archana Prasad.
Today’s graffiti artists work in a spectrum that ranges from photo-realism to gestural expression, from provocative pop to subtle conceptualism. Artists like ECB Hendrik Beikirch oder Dtagno are amongst the leading figures of this movement in Germany. For this project, German graffiti artists team up with artists from Bangalore’s urban cultural scene. Their artistic dialogue will manifest in paintings applied directly in the urban environment on public buses and walls. Visit our Artists page for more >>
Jaaga (www.jaaga.in), a Bangalore-based NGO that focuses on nurturing innovation through the intersection of contemporary urban arts practice with technology and activism, co-hosts the project. Jaaga’s Co-founder and Director, Archana Prasad curates some of the most promising urban artists – Shilo Shiv Suleman, Dhanya Pilo, Jas Charanjiva, Ria Rajan of Jaaga Juice and George Mathen to work in tandem with their German counterparts on select walls and BMTC buses. Visit our Artists page for more >>
A month long schedule of events will take place in Bangalore’s Max Mueller Bhavan, Jaaga, NGMA. In addition, the artists will focus their attention on the neighbourhood of Malleswaram where the a major part of their creative activities will be located in collaboration with the Malleswaram Accessibility Project.
Algerian-French-German choreographer Samir Akika, and his young company Unusual Symptoms blend global urban styles like breakdance and martial arts with contemporary dance performance. Influences from sub- and pop culture and sensitivity for the individual circumstances of real life are the base of their approach. In Bangalore, Akika and his team, together with the young dancers from Attakalari (www.attakalari.org) will develop performance fragments outside the usual theatre walls.
Dutch German contemporary art curator and cultural critic Lene ter Haar offers a lectur at NGMA National Gallery of Modern Art as part of the program between the 21st and the 25th of February.
Besides that, Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan displays Asphaltkultur : German Graffiti Avantgarde. The exhibition presents work of internationally known artists like Harald Naegeli, Nils Mueller and Vektor Gruppe West. ECB Hendrik Beikirch and Dtagno will personally present their work in Bangalore.
During the whole project there will be workshops and lectures offered by the artists and curators. Video screenings on the topic and musical performances will complete the picture. Visit our Events page to know more >>
Urban Avant-Garde 