Wednesday

The Art of Tolerance: Jitish Kallat at the Art Institute of Chicago

On September 11 visitors to the Art Institute of Chicago will have a chance to view Indian contemporary artist Jitish Kallat’s  Public Notice 3, a major new installation on the timely and important theme of religious tolerance.

In recent years Jitish Kallat has emerged as one of the most exciting figures on the Indian contemporary art scene. His new installation follows previous works Public Notice and Public Notice 2. Each work in the series resurrects and magnifies the text of a significant historical speech, rendering the words in symbolic media on a large scale.

Public Notice 3, Kallat’s first major exhibition in the United States, draws on the lasting repercussions of two historical moments. One is the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The other is an address by a young Hindu monk from India, given in Chicago over a century ago during the World Columbian Exhibition, in a  building that is now part of the Art Institute.

The speech by Swami Vivekananda highlighted one of the most significant international gatherings associated with the Exhibition:  the first World’s Parliament of Religions, which opened on September 11, 1893.  This high-profile event was one of the first formal encounters between representatives of Western and Eastern religions, and launched a movement for interreligious dialog and understanding that has lasted to this day. Continue…