In 1459, Rao Jodha Rathore — the 15th Rajput chief of the Rathore clan of Mandore — founded the walled city of Jodhpur on the eastern edge of the Thar Desert, then known as Marwar. The construction of the massive Mehrangarh fort — ‘fort of the sun’ — not only marked this moment in history but has since served as the site around which the blue city grew over the years. A centre of patronage for the arts, architecture, music, and literature, Jodhpur represents the region's rich cultural heritage of performing arts, crafts, architecture, and textile traditions.
This year, the historic walled city of Jodhpur will host its very own Jodhpur Arts Week: Special Projects Edition from October 15 to 21. An initiative of arts entrepreneur Sana Rezwan’s Public Arts Trust of India (PATI), the event will take over four iconic Jodhpur landmarks like Toorji Ka Jhalra, an ancient stepwell commissioned by Maharani Tanwar Ji, the wife of Maharaja Abhay Singh, in 1740; and Ghanta Ghar, a magnificent clock tower commissioned by Maharaja Sardar Singh in the 19th century. The event will bring together artists, designers, makers, and thinkers from across the world for a week-long, city-wide celebration of the arts, design, technology, heritage, and craftsmanship.
From immersive site-specific installations that draw inspiration from and respond to the architectural features of the city to traditional ‘Manchaha’ rugs that depict the crops that grow in the region and the hues of the flowers in season, the platform will highlight over ten artists and artistic philosophies and encourage the exchange of ideas between local and global artists and art communities.
The event, featuring both emerging and established artists, will mark many firsts like "post-Internet" artist Petra Cortright’s debut in India. An American contemporary artist known for her innovative approach to digital media, painting, and video art that blend traditional techniques with digital processes, often incorporating internet aesthetics, social media elements, and computer graphics, Cortright first gained recognition for her webcam self-portrait videos, which she altered with animated GIFs and posted on YouTube, often using spam text as captions. The British Council Moving Image Collection exhibition, curated by David Gryn and Sakhshi Mahajan, at the Shree Sumer School will present Cortright’s 'Garnet Glycerine GSMCRK and Other Stories', a digital artwork exploring the intersection of technology and heritage, for the very first time in India.
The event will also mark the unveiling of ‘Hindolo’, a new larger-than-life-scale public sculpture by Jaipur-based emerging artist Bhimanshu Pandel reinterpreting the sacred plants and trees of Rajasthan’s desert communities within a contemporary space, ‘Hindolo’ reflects the life giving essence of the Khejri tree. Gifted to the city as part of a collaboration between PATI and Frozen Music, the sculpture will be permanently installed in the historic Mandore Gardens in partnership with the Jodhpur Development Authority.
The Jodhpur Arts Week: Special Projects Edition will be held from Tuesday, October 15, to Monday, October 21.
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