With the growing recognition and admiration for Indian contemporary and modern art across countries, Emami Chisel Art today announced the unique India-Sweden cultural exchange program to promote Indian art beyond borders. As a part of the program, Emami Chisel Art will be hosting the first ever Indian art exhibition in Sweden, christened as GO SEE INDIA in the month of August 2010. The exhibition will be supported by Aakriti Art Gallery-Kolkata, Vasa Konsthal and Gallery-Scandinavia in Gothenburg, the key members of the cultural exchange program. 

GO SEE INDIA will be a part of Gothenburg Culture Festival starting from 10th to 15th of August 2010. Alongwith the key attractions during the carnival such as feature ballet, street theatre, symphony orchestra, culinary culture and jazz, hiphop, dance bands with various world-class artists and local bands, the festival will include contemporary Indian art for the first time ever. Gothenburg Culture Festival is one of Sweden's biggest city festivals and an exceptional platform for Indian art to be showcased globally, with about 700,000 visitors across the world, more than 900 items on the programme list  and traditions dating back to the early 1990s.

During an interaction with media alongwith eminent artists of the city to represent Indian art in Sweden, Ms. Richa Agarwal, Director Emami Chisel Art said, ‘We feel thrilled to be associated with this cultural exchange programme as this provides a wonderful window of opportunity to show case contemporary and modern Indian art not only to a wider Swedish audience but also to global art aficionados. Emami Chisel Art, a part of Rs 3000-crore Emami Group, always believes that the world is its stage and we feel confident that our participation in this exchange programme will make the combined influence incredibly far reaching and the combined expertise immensely valuable in taking art to tomorrow’s connoisseurs. By hosting the Swedish Art Exhibition in August, we genuinely hope to make an attempt to rediscover the past, ponder the present and divine the future of the Indo-Swedish World of Art” 

Representing India, the eminent artists to participate during the exhibition will include Baiju Parthan, Gigi Scaria, Pushpamala N., Mithu Sen, Chhatrapati Dutta, B. M. Kamath, G.R. Iranna, Sunil De, Tushar Joag, Akhil Chandra Das, Pratibha Sing, Surekha, Preksha Tater, Pankaj Panwar, Nobina Gupta, Probir Gupta, Nantu Behari Das, Tapas Biswas, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, Mansoor Ali, Ketan Amin, Tapas Biswas and Sekhar Roy.

Emphasizing on Indian art traveling across borders, Vikram Bachhawat, Director, Emami Chisel Arts said, “Indian Contemporary art has been displayed in U.K, U.S.A, Germany, France and other countries, but our venture is to take Indian Art to the places where it had not been showcased frequently. This is our endeavour in this respect.”

The contemporary Swedish art exhibition will be organised in Kolkata in December, 2010 at Emami Chisel art and Aakriti Art Gallery. The city will also witness some major Swedish art work, alongwith a series of socio-cultural exchange programs with a special focus on Swedish art and artists. 

Highlights of GO SEE INDIA
The exhibition of contemporary Indian art is jointly curated by Amit Mukhopadhyay and Oscar Aschan. About 20 artists from all over India will be participating in this exhibition showcasing works ranging from paintings, sculptures, drawings, installations, videos etc. 

• Mithu Sen will be presenting an interesting sound installation along with drawings
• Gigi, Tushar, Sumedh Rajendran, Nabina will contribute in the form of digital prints
• Kaushik will be installing a kinetic sculpture outside the Gothenburg Opera House
• Mansoor Ali, Ketan Amin and Nantu Behari das will showcase sculptures of fibre glass, stainless steel and wood. The sculptures will be installed outside the Museum of art space
• Akhil Chandra Das will share a sculpture made in bronze and wood

Apart from the two art galleries - Vasa Konsthla and Gallery Scandinavia-the famous Valand Art School will be part of the exhibition. Four gallery spaces within the school have been allocated for the display of artworks. Videos of Baiju Parthan, Surekha, Pushpamala and Kamath will be installed at the Valand Art School.

The exhibition has been designed keeping in mind the audience in Gothenburg where both traditional as well as experimental works are regularly shown in the art schools and galleries. An illustrated catalogue will also be brought out on the occasion.

About India-Sweden cultural exchange program
During the spurt of Indian festivals in the 1980’s internationally, Sweden was one of those countries that welcomed and celebrated Indian traditions, marking the beginning of an array of cross cultural exchange programs. With the growth of Indian economy in the last two decades such exchange programs are now reaching out to new avenues, especially with the rise in number of foreign investors keen to do business in India.

Oscar Ashcan, Director of Oagallery a representative of the Swedish culture ministry visited India during the GenNext exhibition at Aakriti in October, 2009 and proposed the India-Sweden cultural exchange programme to Mr. Vikram Bachhawat, Director Emami Chisel Art. The program was finalised by the Mayor of Gothenburg, supported by Emami Chisel Art, Aakriti Art Gallery-Kolkata, Vasa Konsthal and Gallery Scandinavia in Gothenburg along with Aschan & Co.

The exchange programme began with the Indian Fashion held at the Elite Park Hotel, Gothenburg in May 2010 with eminent Indian fashion designers Wendell Rodricks, Prasad Bidapa, Rahul Mishra and Neelanjana Ghose. This was supported by Emami Chisel Art & Aakriti Art Gallery. Head sponsors of the fashion show were, the City of Gothenburg, Västra Götalands Regionen, Aschan & Co. and Volvo buses.

About Emami Group of Companies:
Founded in 1974, Emami today is Rs 3000 crore diversified business group. Emami occupies an enviable position in sectors such as FMCG, newsprint, private hospital, edible oil, bio-diesel, realty, ball pen tips manufacturing, contemporary art and retail chain with Frank Ross and Starmark in its fold. Emami Limited, the Rs 1000+ crore flagship company of Emami Group engaged in FMCG business, manufactures and markets trusted power brands like Boroplus, Navratna, Fair and Handsome, Sona Chandi Chyawanprash, Mentho Plus, and Himani Fast Relief. Maintaining a CAGR of 25%, Emami has footprints in 60 countries across the globe spanning over GCC, Europe, Africa, CIS countries and the SAARC. The plants and production activities of the Group are based all across India. Recently, Emami Limited has acquired Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd comprising leading brands such as Zandu balm, Kesari Jivan and Zandu Chyawanprash. Emami Paper Mills Ltd is one of largest newsprint manufacturer in the country. AMRI hospital is the largest private hospital chain in Eastern India. Emami Biotech Ltd is the only integrated plant to produce 1 lakh tonnes of bio diesel and 3 lakh tonnes of edible oil annually. CRI Ltd is one of the largest ball pen tip manufacturer in India. Emami Chisel Art is redefining the medium of art with its first auction centre in Eastern region. Visit www.emamigroup.com for more information.