I Know What I Am Doing: Curated by P S Jalaja

'I Know What I Am Doing' is a group exhibition that brings together the diverse contemporary works of South Indian artists practicing in various parts of India.

Set against a complex socio-political and cultural backdrop, the exhibition unfolds as a conscious declaration of the artists' agency, awareness, and responsibility.

The title is simultaneously a revelation and a provocation. It reflects the deliberate engagement these artists maintain with their chosen mediums and ideas.

In an era where artistic practice is hemmed in by market forces, digital velocity, and institutionalization, this exhibition foregrounds artists who operate with a clear sense of purpose.

Their creations are not accidental; they are precise positions. The exhibition features a spectrum of participants, from emerging young talents to eminent senior artists. This intergenerational gathering opens a pro found dialogue on the continuities and shifts within contemporary Indian art.

Younger artists bring forth new experiments and energies shaped by post-liberalization realities and digital culture, while senior artists enrich the present with deeper layers of meaning drawn from historical memory and long-standing political engagement. The conceptual core of the exhibition lies here.

The artworks have been selected based on three primary criteria: political consciousness, insight into medium, and conceptual clarity. These works engage with themes such as power, labor, environment, caste, gender, memory, migration, place, and existence. Here, the choice and application of medium transcend mere stylistic precision to become methodology, metaphor, and critique. These conceptual frameworks are not just abstract ideas but are deeply rooted in lived realities and history.

Rather than offering a one-sided narrative, 'I Know What I Am Doing' seeks to foster an open dialogue. It encompasses the diversities and contradictions inherent in contemporary Indian art. The exhibition serves as a critical space where varying artistic practices converge, diverge, and collide.

In asserting "I know what I am doing," the artists are not claiming infallibility, but rather underlining the intentionality behind their work. They acknowledge the inherent challenges of creating art in the contemporary moment. Moving beyond mere expression, this exhibition invites the audience to perceive art as a political and social thought process.

P S JALAJA