INTRODUCTION

In the 1990s there was a flourishing programme of visual artists exchanges between Wales and Rajasthan. This was part of the Artists in Residence Programme for which I was responsible at South East Wales Arts Association and the Arts Council of Wales between 1983-98. Other exchanges had previously been organised with the Ukraine and Georgia CIS, Norway, Poland and in Philadelphia and Omaha, USA. These projects were reciprocal, usually lasting for two months, as distinct from the domestic AiR appointments which ranged between 6 months to three years and often longer.

The exchange came about at the time of a major initiative in Barcelona, where ACW were organising a series of cultural projects to coincide with the European City of Culture celebrations. My Director suggested that a visual arts exchange could extend our presence there. My view at the time was that there was so much happening in that city it would make much better sense to set up a new exchange where there was little happening and where we could break new ground.

A fellow artist, Sue Hunt, who had recently returned from an Arts Council supported trip to India, (and who also sat on our advisory board), suggested Rajasthan as a possible location for an exchange. She had met Suneet Ghildial and Ekeshwar two staff members at Rajasthan School of Art and thought Jaipur could be a really interesting place to work.

At this time the only exchanges in the visual arts with India were by very well established artists, like Gillian Ayres, hosted by prestigious institutions, and only a few of these. My interest was far more concerned with artists who were still in the process of finding their voice and who were at an earlier stage in their careers. I felt it was at this time in their lives that they would most benefit from an intensive period of study in a new and visually exciting situation. There can be no doubt that India proved such an environment for our visitors from Wales. It was reassuring to observe that our colleagues from India felt equally positive about their experience of Wales.

To initially set up the exchange I made contact with Sushma Bahl, Head of Culture at the British Council in New Delhi. She greatly assisted with my introductions to artists in Rajasthan and gave me very good advice. During my visit to Jaipur I held meetings at the School of Art, and with a number of visual Arts Groups and found genuine enthusiasm for the exchange. In this I was generously assisted by a great many artists, in particular Vidhya Sagar Upadhyay, Head of Fine Art and his colleagues. My travels setting up the programme took me also to Jodhpur and Udiapur where I was welcomed and given every kind of help. This included meeting the Maharaja of Jodhpur who gave us his permission to locate two artists, Phil Mead and Allan Rogers in the Marangarh Fortress which dated from the 17th century and had been the scene of interstate battles. The artists' studio was located in the Maharanis' Palace (Queens personal quarters), standing on the edge of the Fortress wall overlooking the "Blue City" 400 feet below them.

Our funding partners during these exchanges were The Charles Wallace India Trust, INTACH and The British Council, without whose support the programme could not have had such an impact.

In 1994 the first two of the 35 artists who were to take part were appointed, Ram Avatar Soni and Harshiv Kumar Sharma both of whom travelled to Wales and held exhibitions in Cardiff in June that year. Each year for the next five years artists visited each other's country to a variety of different hosting venues; in India these included Banasthali Vidiapith, an all women's University in the Thar Desert, Rajasthan School of Art, The Blue Pottery, TAKHMAN-28 Arts Centre and many more. In Wales our visitors worked with Cardiff School of Art & Design, Berllanderi Sculpture Workshop, Old Library Artists Studios, The Pioneers Art Group and many more. The artists forged strong friendships many of which have been sustained over the last 18 years. It is with this background the current exhibition has been organised.

After the exchange had completed five years I left my post at ACW and the exchange was no longer supported formally but the relationship remained and further visits and exhibitions have taken place over the intervening years. Those Indian artists exhibiting have been associated with the exchange, either as participants or collaborators; many more also took part and were an important part of this long running project which still continues. Speaking personally the visual impact of India has had a considerable influence on the development of my own work and led directly to a series of exhibitions and residencies in North Western India and elsewhere. Several artists from India have visited the UK following their residencies including Shahid Parvez, Vinay Sharma, Samdar Singh Kangarot Sagar and Manish Kansara ; all have returned and are showing their own work internationally.

One of the most important aspects of this exchange manifests itself in the genuine friendships between the participants. It has been their generosity and hospitality that has been so characteristic and which has sustained the experience for so many of those who took part since its inception.

This specific exhibition includes only three artists from Wales who were part of the exchange. For this show Cardiff is represented by artists working in print and photography from Cardiff School of Art & Design, in particular the V-6 Group, who also organised and host the second of this two part exhibition.

Support for this exhibition has been generously provided by The Welsh Assembl Government, Wales Arts International, The Arts Council of Wales, The Kala Lalit Academy, Jawahar Kala Kendra , V-6 Group and Cardiff School of Art & Design, UWIC.

Richard Cox 2011.

Wales Rajasthan Exchange Exhibition

Participating Artists

Jawaliar Kala Kendra (January 2011) Howard Gardens Gallery (March 2011)

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