India's 60th in New York

As usual the Indian parade passed by my window kicking up the kind of racket you can expect from any parade in New York. However this time round there was a float that was somewhat out of the ordinary even by India’s diverse standards. This one seemed to have found inspiration from Brazil during carnival time. How did London Beverage Cash & Carry (is that a big business or a small one?) get away with a float that had nothing to do with India and even less with Indian culture? One gentleman got rather angry and spat in front of the float saying it was against our culture. He’s right, but his ire would probably have been better directed toward the podium on Madison Avenue where all the bigwigs who make these decisions were gathered.

The sponsoring Federation of Indian Associations has previously prevented legitimate Indian sexual minorities from marching at the parade on the grounds that these were against the spirit of Indian culture; notwithstanding India’s own sexual diversity. However the same FIA it seems has no qualms of any kind when it comes to pure commercial propaganda on behalf of London Beverage. That the colorfully plumed bare-skinned dances of the carnival are not part of the sub-continent’s rather rich and varying heritage is not in question. That most Indians would find that kind of body flashing embarrassing in front of children that too on their national day is merely a fact though one could argue it’s their problem. But that FIA should choose to allow such a float to pass simply for advertising dollars when it denies real people of Indian origin the right to express themselves at the parade is a matter of double shame for them.

Illusions at the Guggenheim

The Guggenheim is offering icy cool respite from the oppressive New York heat until September 5th in The Shapes of Space. The centerpiece of which without doubt for me is the Alyson Shotz glacial glass curtain showcased on the ground floor which is neither made of glass nor really 3-dimensional. Illusions, it turns out, cannot fool the camera!

Yuken Teruya's origami inspired trees are by far the most delicate pieces at the exhibition while Mika Rottenberg's video Dough is mesmerizing and grotesque. Tiny tots and oldsters alike crowd in the little wooden compartment and sit it out for a full cycle watching lumps of dough being kneaded and processed by gigantic hands.

copyright Guggenheim.org
One of Teruya's trees

Unfortunately not all of the pieces on show are of such fascinating shallowness (as Sholtz's work) or weirdness (as Rottenberg's) or beauty (as Teruya's). And at moments walking down the spiral I cannot help but give thanks to the spiral structure of the rotunda which only on rare occasions (the Russian exhibition for one) has managed to be overwhelmed by the art.