Indian contemporary art arrives finds new fans in Berlin
As a former Gestapo interrogation centre in Berlin, the sprawling building at number 90-91 Zimmerstrasse once played a chilling role in the city's history...
Art | Berlin | Germany
Updated On: 12/15/2008
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As a former Gestapo interrogation centre in Berlin, the sprawling building at number 90-91 Zimmerstrasse once played a chilling role in the city's history. Now the huge factory-sized premises near the German capital's former Cold War Checkpoint Charlie crossing has been renovated and transformed into a home for a cluster of major art galleries in the city.

On the building's top floor, in high-ceilinged, voluminous rooms is the recently opened Nature Morte gallery, where fans of contemporary Indian art indulge their tastes. New Delhi-born artist Dayanita Singh is currently showing a series of photographic shots depicting marginalised Indian communities.

Nature Morte Berlin is the second gallery in the capital dedicated to contemporary Indian art. The Bodhi gallery, located behind one of Berlin's major art museums, the Hamburger Bahnhof, was the first, opening in May.

Since then, it has been busy mounting exhibitions aimed at winning new audiences for the new wave of Indian art that has been sweeping the global art market.

Nature Morte, on the other hand, was originally part of New York's East Village art scene in the 1980s before re-establishing itself in New Delhi in 1997.

The gallery's Berlin director Julie Engelmeier first studied politics and economics in Paris, London and New York before getting hooked up in the art world.

She's excited about Nature Morte's debut Indian art exhibition, featuring Dayanita Singh's work in three distinct sections. The exhibition runs through to January 3 next year.

One section highlights images shot within the Anandamayi Ashram in the northern Indian city of Varanasi (Benares). From portraits of girls sequestered within this environment emerges a study of the tensions found in India today including the role of women.

Another section zeroes in on activities at a site in the western Indian state of Gujarat where mentally and physically ill patients go in the hope of a cure. Formerly suffering from epilepsy, Singh was originally drawn to the site.

Engelmeier is an enthusiastic fan of Dayanita Singh's searching brand of photography. "She is a highly profiled, super-serious Indian photographer, who is also a very funny and warm person," said Engelmeier.

"I'm happy to have opened with her work because it sets a great standard for the gallery," she says.

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