This is an important year for the Indian Subcontinent which is commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of the most charismatic characters of the twentieth century, Gandhi, in the same year in which 900 million citizens were called to the polls to elect the new government (reconfirming the outgoing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the BJP).

2019 also sees the return of India to Venice for the second time in the history of the oldest Biennale in the world, eight years later, with an official pavilion and, we say it immediately, a pavilion not to be missed.

In the wonderful spaces of the Arsenale, the exhibition “Our time for a future caring” – an exhortation to pay attention to a shared future – contains in a very intimate atmosphere, the works of seven artists who cross the twentieth century to the present day and reflect on the legacy of Gandhi and the values ​​of non-violence, fairness and equality: Nandalal Bose, Atul Dodiya, GR Iranna, Rummana Hussain, Jitish Kallat, Shakuntala Kulkarni and Ashim Purkayastha.

As a matter of fact, entering the pavilion you have a feeling of recollection and peace, but don’t expect anything didactic or documentary. It might seem an easy and captivating choice to use such a universally recognized leader, so charismatic as the pivot of an exhibition and especially in India this choice has raised some critique. But the quality of the selected artists and their long-standing commitment to the figure of Gandhi is so out of the question that criticism has given way to pride. Also because each artist has developed and interpreted the Gandhian practice to the point of making it the object of a contemporary reflection.

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