Memory, Metaphor, Mutations

Book excerpt: "As boundaries slowly dissolve and interactive realities become evident, the cultures of India and Pakistan are beginning to draw attention. Recent exchanges have taken place in the realm of music, cinema, and other cultural forms. Moreover, both nations share a heritage of Mughal miniatures, Rajasthani and Pahari art, and are bound together by history and the problematics of the present. The contemporary art of the two countries, in all its vitality, today has a new identity. The illustrated book reveals the heterogenous, complex, and vibrant life of the subcontinent of South Asia that is reflected through both Pakistani and Indian art." "In the first part of the book, Salima Hashmi introduces the art practices of Pakistan, since Partition, and their historical background. She goes on to discuss the subversive work of women artists, who have recently asserted themselves. The section ends with an overview of artists who have blended rather uniquely the miniature tradition with contemporary trends." "The second part by Yashodhara Dalmia, begins with the historical development of art in India from the turn of the twentieth-century to the present. There follows a focus on the Progressive Artists' Group, which leaned heavily towards modernism in the fifties, and remains of paramount importance today."--Jacket.