International Workshop

Khoj Kasheer - 2007

hemant — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:49:26 -0500

Khoj Kasheer - 2007

Khoj 2007 International workshop is being held in Srinagar, Kasheer at "Gulshan" (Aga Manzil),Lalmandi between 29th October to 12th November.

KHOJ Kolkata 2006

manoj — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 08:50:56 -0500

KHOJ Kolkata 2006

The international artists workshop, KHOJ Kolkota was held in October 2006 in Baruipur, a suburb on the southern fringes of the city of kolkata which is rapidly being engulfed by the urban sprawl.

The 24 participating artists were invited to respond to the site of Chaudhari Bari of Baruipur - a sprawling structure set amidst extensive gardens. Possibly constructed in the latter half of the 19th century , the building essentially follows the pattern of the introverted courtyard style dwelling house , several traditional arches and columns which truly represent the aspirations and status of landed families of the era.

KHOJ Mumbai 2005

khoj studio — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 06:29:37 -0400

KHOJ Mumbai 2005

In June 2005, the KHOJ International artists’ workshop was held in Mumbai, organised by a working group based in Mumbai. Acclaimed international artists came together with prominent artists from India to participate at the Khoj International Artist Workshop held at the Jindal Vijaynagar Steel Ltd, Vasind. Ten artists from Bangladesh, South Korea, Germany, Pakistan, Turkey, Sri Lanka, France, UK, Barbados and South Africa and the same number of artists from Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Cochin and Kolkatta will work alongside for an intensive two-week period.

KHOJ Bangalore 2003

khoj studio — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 04:08:16 -0400

KHOJ Bangalore 2003

The seventh international artists workshop held in Bangalore. Once again, the model mutated. The workshop was held at Venkatappa Art Gallery in the centre of the city of Bangalore from Dec 6-21, 2003. By bringing together both local and international artists, the workshop achieved a higher visibility for the participating arts organisations and artists, creating a stronger context for their work. The sharing and working together has not only helped bridge the palpable north- south divide between artists, but has also given an impetus to a huge group of very energetic and enthusiastic artists in Bangalore.

KHOJ Mysore 2002

khoj studio — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 10:36:39 -0400

KHOJ Mysore 2002

This year the workshop is being held in Mysore - the acclaimed cultural capital of South India. The shift is more than one of location. After the successful completion of KHOJ 2001, there was much introspection by the KHOJ working group which felt that despite the organizational and logistical comfort level that we had reached in Delhi, it was time to re envision KHOJ and give it a fresh impetus. Far from being a closed coterie of artists, KHOJ has sustained itself over the years largely because it has continually brought on board artists with a new energy and commitment.

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 2001

manoj — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 09:06:41 -0400

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 2001

This year has not been an easy one for South Asia : As I write, cruise missiles are hurting in neighbouring airspaces killing people. Earlier in the year Nepal reeled under the deadly Palace massacre; suicide bombers destroyed half the Sri Lankan Airlines fleet in Colombo; Bangladesh has been through another violent election and Kashmir continues to burn in the aftermath of the Agra summit between Pakistan and India.

It is at times like this that international workshops like ours assume a deeper significance. As friend and artist Lee Wen perceptively wrote in the aftermath of September 11, “... The situation of globalisation has its dangers that we must now try harder to understand ...across the plains of our endeavours it is cross-cultural activities that have been unfortunately neglected and is the lowest in priority in nearly all nations and societies despite all the increasing glaring signs of disparities everywhere.”

And so we continue - doggedly - with our preparations for another workshop which brings together artists from different parts of the world in an attempt to develop mutual understanding of our differences and similarities.

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 2000

khoj studio — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:04:06 -0400

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 2000

To rewind to KHOJ 2000. This was the fourth annual workshop and it saw the coming together of a new working group as the older members moved on, giving support as always from the outside. The KHOJ workshop, based as it is, on the dual principle of exchange and experimentation saw an energized exchange between 24 artists from around the globe: The artists statements reproduced inside are testimony of their experience and to the success of the workshop.

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi, 1999

khoj studio — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 11:16:39 -0400

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi, 1999

“One position, one voice, lacks dialectical resonance... [dialogue offers] a latticework of thoughts and points of view that interweave and complement each other”
Suzi Gablik, Art critic and artist

The KHOJ 1999 workshop was marked by intense dialogue and debate and much of the work produced, as the following pages will reveal, was underlined by a strong socio-political conscience. Simultaneously, the work of performance based artists, Michael Shaonawasai from Thailand, Song Dong form China, Anne Marie Culhane from the UK and Subodh Gupta, India blurred boundaries and provided interesting overlappings between performance as art/performance art.

It has been our endeavour over the years to integrate various art forms and via KHOJ, provide a forum for such experimentation. We thus invited exhibition designer and theatre person, Sumanth Jaykrishnan to interact with the artists at Modinagar. His response was an installation using elements of the artists’ work which was showcased at the British Council.

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 1998

khoj studio — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 10:07:04 -0400

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 1998

The second Khoj workshop in 1998 was, as the one before, dynamic, liberating and new. In an attempt to widen the artists' network that we had set out to establish we looked further afield and invited artists from Japan, Singapore and Israel...................

The workshop was conducted at Modinagar. There was Sikribagh, the venue foe the KHOJ an old bungalow built in in a quasi-colonial fuedal style. Amidst acres of land, mango trees and a pond - an idyll in the midst of the now decaying industrial city, the artists found a refuge in some ways for concentrated work that is neverthless close to the feverish reality of a small town and its changing fortunes. Generously offered to KHOJ for the workshop by SK Modi, Sikribagh was to create encounters of many kinds.

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 1997

khoj studio — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 06:51:46 -0400

KHOJ Modinagar, Delhi 1997

This was the first International artists workshop conducted by Khoj. It was hooked not only the concept but also to the responsibility of setting up the first one in India using (happy experiences) and imaging a happier one here on home ground which we could tint with our knowledge of particular context and forge into something significant with our commitment and sheer hard work.

22 Artists participated in the workshop- ten of them are overseas artists with their different myths and twelve artists are from India. The workshop was conducted at Modinagar, heading 55 kms from Delhi, a town that had grown around a group of industries founded by the late Gujarmal Modi in the Nehruvian days of independent India.