I don’t want to be there when it happens
Featuring work by Raqs Media Collective, Reena Saini Kallat, Raj Kumar, Sonia Leber & David Chesworth, Mithu Sen, Adeela Suleman and Abdullah M I Syed
November - December 2017
PICA - Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australia
Starting from the fragile and complex socio-political relationship between India and Pakistan in the era of contemporary warfare, I don’t want to be there when it happens investigates, in a broader sense, the psychology of trauma.
In response to the 70th anniversary of the Partition of Colonial India (14 August 1947), this exhibition features artists from both Pakistan and India whose evocative practices convey the profound existential unease of our age, either directly or indirectly. They unravel the present time, dealing with the legacy of history, as well as foretelling the future. I don’t want to be there when it happens reaffirms the rejection of violence as well as the need for more effective and profound structures for dialogue through conscious acts of engagement.
The exhibition is organised in partnership with 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and expanded on the occasion of its presentation at PICA.
