The system’s complexity and efficiency impressed Prince Charles of England so much that he invited a few dabbawalas to his second wedding, 
as guests.

Over the years, the dabbawala has been perfected to such details that some may call it a work of art, but how can it actually be translated into art, worthy of an international exhibition?

Well, if you ask Velay Shende, he will tell you to create a copper and golden looking metal sculpture of a standing man in front of his bicycle, the man “dressed” in traditional Mumbai attire, made out of small watches and his bicycle packed with “boxes” in the shape of a human stomach.

This is, in fact, what Indian contemporary artist Shende did, and he did it pretty well, since his Dabbawala 
was chosen as an opening piece in the ‘Spectrum’, the modern and contemporary Indian art retrospective in 
Abu Dhabi.

The exhibition, set up in an improvised gallery at Emirates Palace, was inaugurated on Thursday night. Its organisers, the Indian Embassy here, in cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, meant it as a gesture of friendship and re-deepening personal relations between Indians and Emiratis.

The two highly regarded Indian curators of ‘Spectrum’, Saryu Doshi and Pheroza Godrej, have chosen to show the Abu Dhabi public three different movements of Indian art — the modernists, the contemporary artists and the so-called “popular” artists.

“After the Independence in 1947, Indian artists were no longer commissioned, so they found themselves free to work on the things that affected them most,” Godrej told Khaleej Times, while standing in front of Sudhir Patwardhan’s painting, depicting the high-rise buildings of Mumbai.

Much of the modernist period, though, was inspired by Western art, in particular the French Impressionism and Symbolism.

In contrast, the contemporary artists returned to roots and traditions for a much better defined Indian artistic statement.

“Traditionally, Indian art has its roots in the Mughal empire and kingdoms, which used a lot of precious and semi-precious stones, floral patterns and mosaics,” said Godrej.

“If you look at this painting here, you would think it’s a marble, but if you look closely, you see that it is made out of rubber stamps,” she added, pointing towards a floral pattern design by Reena Kallat.

Another “authentic” Indian artwork is Bharti Kher’s “Bindi on mirrored surface”. Arranged in circular shapes, with Indian-looking motifs and colours, 
the hundreds of bindi (the mark of adornment worn by Indian women 
on their forehead which has auspicious significance) are placed on a glass 
mirror, all symbols of feminism.

Chintan Upadhayay’s untitled head of a child, a giant golden statue, is yet another eye-catcher.

“Indeed, it does look like Buddha from a distance and I think that is because children are born without negatives, they are pure,” agreed Godrej.

Ashutosh Apte and his wife Rajshree Karkare came up with an installation specifically designed for UAE — a wall 
of waving blue and green Hindi letters with dozens of miniature brown and silver boats “sailing” on them and down onto the floor carpet, made out of paper containing both Hindi and 
Arabic letters.

“The idea was to create the journey from Mumbai to Abu Dhabi, a journey that Indian traders once took in traditional wooden dhows,” explained Godrej, adding that the artist worked almost non-stop from 10am on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday to complete the installation.

Several paintings stand out in the popular contemporary wing, one of them being Ajay De’s rickshaw.

It is a beautiful, serene image created in black and white with a discreet splash of colour, depicting a man riding a rickshaw, under a dense “rain” of 
umbrellas.

“He came from Kolkata, where there is a lot of rain and the rickshaw is the only form of transportation,” said 
Godrej.

‘Spectrum’ will remain open until November 28. Entry is free.

silvia@khaleejtimes.com