In this talk, Dr. Sambrani looked into the development of 'contemporary art' from non-Western origins within a global art historical and curatorial network. With particular reference to Indian and Indonesian art, the histories of how artists negotiate the limits of the contemporary in terms of political practice as well as curatorial judgement will be discussed. Dr. Sambrani shared his own experiences as a researcher and curator of contemporary Indian art.

About the speaker
Dr Chaitanya Sambrani (BA Hons, MA Fine Baroda; PhD ANU) is Head of Art Theory at the Australian National University School of Art. His major academic interests are in modern and contemporary Asian art. Recent projects include "crossing generations: diVERGE" an exhibition spanning four generations of contemporary artists in India (co-curated with Geeta Kapur) at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, December 2003. He is the curator of 'Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India' a major travelling exhibition jointly organized by the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Asia Society. His work on contemporary art in Asia has been published in journals, books and catalogues in India, Australia and other countries. Current projects include 'Historiographies of the Contemporary in Southeast Asian Art' (in collaboration with Prof. T. K. Sabapathy) and a monograph on the artist G.M.Sheikh.