Exhibition catalogue for Pop South Asia: Artistic Explorations in the Popular, first shown at Sharjah Art Foundation, UAE (2 Sept–11 Dec 2022), and later at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (New Delhi/Noida), Feb–April 2023

Pop South Asia: Artistic Explorations in the Popular examines the dynamic intersections between contemporary art and popular culture in South Asia from the late 20th century to the present. Edited by Iftikhar Dadi and Roobina Karode, with a foreword by Hoor Al Qasimi, the volume brings together essays and visual documentation exploring how artists engage with mass media, urban visuality, cinema, advertising, and vernacular culture. The publication highlights transnational exchanges, political contexts, and the role of globalization in shaping artistic practices across countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It foregrounds themes of identity, consumerism, and hybridity, offering critical insights into how “the popular” informs contemporary visual culture in the region.

Includes essays by curators Iftikhar Dadi and Roobina Karode, foreword by Hoor Al Qasimi

Artist biographies and descriptions of all participating artworks (over 100 artists represented)
Wikipedia
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v1.sharjahart.org
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STIRworld
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Platform Magazine

Bilingual: English & Arabic texts

Compact, richly illustrated guide with thematic organization across popular culture, devotional practices, craft, media aesthetic, consumerism, identity, colonial legacies
v1.sharjahart.org
sullivanstrumpf.com
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Platform Magazine
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aaa.org.hk
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Participating Artists (partial list): Sample of ~50 artists featured in the exhibition and catalogue, including Bharti Kher, Pushpamala N., Baseera Khan, Bhupen Khakhar, Chitra Ganesh, L.N. Tallur, Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran, Tsherin Sherpa, Vivan Sundaram, M.F. Husain, among others