The Harley Gallery, built on the site of the Welbeck Estate’s 19th century Gasworks, provides a thought provoking and intriguing setting for Through Other Eyes, which echoes the description of South Asia in the exhibition catalogue as ‘a region such as ours with a very rich and ancient history, [where] the present will inevitably be tinted with the past, and so will the arts .’
The exhibition explores how South Asian art has been affected by Western culture, for example the emphasis of Western art history on Asian art courses, the growth of consumerism and the lure of the western art market. Through Other Eyes includes work by artists who have been trained in art colleges alongside new works by folk and tribal artists who have served an apprenticeship with a master, often a family member such as a mother or father in the case of Madhubani, West Bengal and Gond painters.
Exhibition curator Gérard Mermoz spent three months in India and Pakistan visiting art colleges, melas (markets), artists' studios and exhibitions to curate a unique and ground-breaking exhibition which includes art works that have not been exhibited before.
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