India has a long and rich tradition of living arts. Since the ancent times, artisans have been busy making functional objects of every day use in ordinary material, which are also invested with unique beauty and aesthetics.

Contemporary Indian art, inspired and influenced by the tradition, incorporates an interesting play and assimilation of awe inspiring classical arts with the beauty of its folk and tribal forms. Both in terms of its monitory value and quality it has gained recognition world-wide. Artists in India are experimenting with new media and mode of art as well as working in the traditional modes of painting and sculpting. There is a clear influence of the classical and folk traditions of Indian painting, using natural materials and colours to make ritualistic, functional and decorative artifacts.

We have in the exhibition glass paintings with gold work from Thanjavur and Mysore depicting religious themes. There are also folk tales in Cherial style, social history and incidents recorded in Madhubani paintings and beautiful figures in Mural paintings from Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Bihar and Kerala. Together they show us the diversity and richness of folk painting styles from different parts of India. Despite their own distinct features and focus they also demonstrate the unity in diversity of Indian culture.

The work by 12 contemporary artists in this exhibition gives us a panoramic view of the current art practice. Coming from different parts of India their work has traces of influence of their regional folk forms. Instead of fabric, leaves and handmade paper they use canvas and in a couple of cases paper. There are landscapes, abstracts and multi media works representing their contemporary sensibility and concerns.

We have brought together the folk and the contemporary works in this exhibition to give our artists friends and the people of Ghana a flavor of the rich culture of India and hope you will enjoy the exhibition and find the works interesting.

I wish to thank Ms. Gladys Boateng, Director of the National Commission on Culture, Govt. of Ghana, Mr. K.K. Framji and his colleagues in the Indian High Commission for their valuable support in presenting this show in Accra.