“Hand-Painted Signs from India and Dominican Republic” at India Habitat Center
NEW DELHI – In an exhibition conceived by the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in India, Dominican photographer, Maurice Sánchez, and Indian artist, Aradhana Seth, were invited to present work from their archives gathered over the last two decades, which documents the world of hand-painted signs in their respective countries.
Their work shown side by side at the India Habitat Center under the title “Hand-Painted Signs from India and Dominican Republic” from the 5th April to the 5th May 2023 reveals the similarities between the two countries at the street level.
As writers Rahul Srivastava and Matias Echanove note in the exhibition introductory text “Such signs have been an intrinsic part - and are a vanishing presence - in streetscapes in many cities across continents. They represent a world of neighbourhood life in which goods from elsewhere are stamped by a local identity, global class aspirations are domesticated by local artists, and colour comes to a street that may be struggling with basic infrastructure.”
As these signs fade into obscurity in the face of a growing digitization, the exhibition pays homage to often ignored artists, who have been enlivening the walls, restaurants, shops and workspaces of our cities, draping them with “ an imaginary in bright colours and fun, provocations and piousness.”=
For more information about the artists and the exhibition:
https://www.dominicanembassy.in/expo