POP SAMITI: the call for submissions is now closed

Pop Samiti art paper is an experimental open platform for people with an interest in South Asian narratives to share ideas and perspectives of being South Asian in the 21st century, to reflect on new notions of modernity, dislocation and growth.

According to UN projections, by 2015, the population of India (1.3 bn) is expected to be larger than the population of all the more developed countries combined. By 2050 India will reach around 1.6 billion, India will have taken over China to become the world's most populous county. Bangladesh and Pakistan will also be in the top 10 most populous countries and with Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka the South Asian family will be a huge demographic.

How will this massive population increase define us as South Asians, what do we have to say? What will the response of artists, writers, activists and thinkers be to this phenomenon? What narratives will emerge and who will define them?

Pop Samiti is an opportunity for us to collectively engage with each other and create and write our own narratives.

Pop Samiti is attempting to facilitate an artistic response and a critical dialogue between people and localities, to express their visions and ideas.

It is an open space for a divergence of work and ideas, encouraging original thinking.

Work will be brought together in Pop Samiti, an international document of ideas. As a paper print publication (in the UK only) and as a online version, launched in 2009.

For queries contact: tajender@popsamiti.com

About

Tajender Sagoo Director

Tajender Sagoo was born in Nairobi, Kenya of Punjabi parents, and she migrated to the UK in the 1970s. From a very young age she wanted to be an artist. As a student she studied textiles and specialised in weaving at Central St Martins School of Art, London. Since leaving art school she has mainly worked in the community arts and the cultural sector. A couple of years ago she decided to redefine her textile practice within a fine art tradition and broaden her practice to include other art forms. Her practice involves textiles, moving image and mixed media and she has a strong interest in craft, pattern, and colour. She investigates the relationships between objects and the ideas that they express, in the historical and modern experience. Through this process an idea emerged that they are ways of seeing the South Asian presence in the 21st century outside of the post-colonial narrative.

This development of her practice has led to the idea of curating an international project that reflects some of the concerns of her work. Pop Samiti is a experimental platform for artists to reflect on new notions of modernity, dislocation and growth.

Bindu Mehra Assistant Curator Marketing and Communication

Bindu Mehra studied at MS University, Faculty of Fine Arts, India and completed her graduation from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. She was awarded the Dean's Scholarship (2001, 2000), Painting and Printmaking Scholarship (2001 and 2000), Painting and Print Making Department Mentorship as well as Teaching Assistantship from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has also received the Maharaja Sayaijrao Merit Scholarship (1994), Baroda, India.  
Bindu has been featured in numerous television and press reviews - An Magazine, Arts India, L'OFFICIAL, Times of India, India Today, BBC, Time Out, Sahara Channel (Television) to name a few.
Recent exhibitions have included Scope Art Fair- 'The Future Was Then…so now what?', Lincoln Center, New York and Basel (2008), 'The Kitchen', South Hill Park Arts Centre (2007), 'In a State of Emergency? Women, War and the Politics of Urban Survival'
Alwan for the Arts, New York, U.S.A (2006). She was also invited by the French Consulate as an artist in residence in Paris (2005).
Bindu has exhibited at numerous venues in London, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Baroda.

Contact: bindu@popsamiti.com

Diana Ali Assistant Curator ' Shifting Identities'

Diana was Born in Rusholme, Manchester to Bangladeshi parents. She has a BA (Hons) Fine Art from Nottingham Trent University and a Masters in Contemporary Fine Art Curating/ Practice from Sheffield Hallam University. She lives in Nottingham. She is a primarily a Visual Artist and has exhibited in Manchester, London and recently in the Roaming Biennial in Tehran. Her medium involves painting, drawing, installation and text based work. Her concerns are working with responses, collaboration, authorship and exchange. Her work has featured in The Disarmory Newspaper in New York and the BBC Arts website. Her curatorial projects include directing 'Up & Coming' at the CUC in Liverpool, an event showcasing 60 emerging national and international artists. She has also curated the 'Defamiliarization' touring exhibition in London and Sheffield which involved collaboration with 26 international artists. 'Shifting Identities' is her project for Pop Samiti interviewing South Asian participants and forming a hybrid but unified response.

http://dianaalidefamiliarization.blogspot.com/

Contact: alidiana@gmail.com

©Tajender Sagoo Limehouse Town Hall 646 Commercial Road London UK E14 7HA