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On a sunny Sunday afternoon in February, the Indian Cultural Society held its annual Wine and Cheese Reception. Established eight years ago to promote all forms of Indian art and culture, the ICS has provided world-class public programs, including classical music concerts, family festivals, and lectures. The Annual Wine and Cheese Reception is a time for ICS members to come together, celebrate the group’s successes, and kick off another year of programming.
Dr. Donald A. Wood, the Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art, began the program with a warm welcome. This year they were honored to host a special guest speaker and curator, Megha Ralapati. Megha gave an engaging overview of the state of the contemporary Indian art market, looking specifically at work by emerging artists. They learned about how to form one’s own contemporary art collection, and viewed works by contemporary Indian artists brought to Birmingham exclusively for the ICS.
While their parents enjoyed Ralapati’s presentation, ICS children were treated to exhibition tours of Third Space /Shifting Conversations about Contemporary Art with docents Julia Stork and Caroline Wingate. Guest studio art instructor Kristin Bloodworth provided Third Space inspired art-making activities, and parents were treated to mini-masterworks at the end of the program. Finally, guests were given a special tour of Third Space, led by the exhibition’s curator, Hugh Kaul Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Wassan Al-Khudhairi.