The term ‘Homeland’ is usually defined as the country of origin, one’s native or ancestral place, the country of our national identity. Today, many of us move across inter/national boundaries. We are born in one country or city and we make another our home. In the criss-crossing of political, social and cultural borders, we live our lives through hyphenated identities, belonging here and there; inhabiting multiple places - both physical and metaphorical. As physical geographies become increasingly contested and individuals and communities live as exiles or emigrants in ‘other’ places, past lives and homes are recollected, indeed constructed, through remembrance, nostalgia and imagination.

What then constitutes a homeland? Is it ethnicity? Language? Religion? Customs and beliefs? Are homelands those in which our ancestors were born? What of outsiders who live and make other lands their homes? Where do we really belong? Where is it that we hope to one day return? ‘Homelands’ cuts to the heart of cultural relations in the 21st century, exploring ideas of belonging and alienation, possession and loss, public histories and personal memories, nostalgic geographies and the intangible terrains of the imaginary.

Panel Discussion: Perspectives on Collecting

by Menaka Kumari Shah, Director Country Head, Christie’s India; Andrea Rose, Director of Visual Arts and Strategic Programmes, British Council, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Director and Managing Trustee, BDL Museum and Shreela Ghosh, Director Arts, South Asia British Council.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

An expert panel from India and the UK will explore and debate approaches to building public and private art collections from a variety of perspectives. It will also discuss philanthropic giving, public acquisition committees, and the role of the Government.