Paris-Delhi-Bombay Exhibition at Centre Pompidou Critiqued for Derivative Western Influences

The exhibition 'Paris-Delhi-Bombay: India through the eyes of Indian and French Artists' ran at the Centre Pompidou in Paris from 25 May to 19 September 2011, featuring nearly fifty artists exploring themes like politics, urbanism, religion, home, identity, and arts and crafts. Curators aimed to foster dialogue between France and India, questioning contemporary Indian culture through works such as ORLAN's sequin flags, Krishnaraj Chonat's electronic waste sculptures, and N. S. Harsha's miniature reinterpretations. Other notable pieces included Jitish Kallat's motorbike-bull hybrid, Atul Dodiya's Bollywood-inspired painting, and Ravinder Reddy's large golden sculpture. However, the review criticizes the show as overly derivative of Western styles, citing Subodh Gupta's stainless steel display echoing Allan McCollum's repetitions and Vivan Sundaram's urban waste photos as familiar political tropes. It questions whether the exhibition, with art heavily indebted to Western precedents, can authentically represent India's multifaceted cultures, highlighting unresolved political issues in cross-cultural representation. The accompanying French-only catalogue included essays on Indian modernism and sacred art, while the reviewer contrasts the Pompidou's efforts with nearby Louvre paintings by Nicolas Poussin, Antoine Watteau, and Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, arguing the exhibition fails to provide a comprehensive understanding of present-day India.