Renate Dohmen – författare

Encounters Beyond the Gallery challenges the terms of their exclusion, looking to relational art, Deleuze-Guattarean aesthetics and notions of perception, as well as anthropological theory for ways to create connections between seemingly disparate worlds. Embracing a unique and experimental format, the book imagines encounters between the art works and art worlds of Rirkrit Tiravanija, Tamil women, the Shipibo-Conibo of Eastern Peru and a fictional female contemporary artist named Rikki T, in order to rethink normative aesthetic and cultural categories. Its method reflects the message of the book, and embraces a plurality of voices and perspectives to steer critical attention towards the complexity of artistic life beyond the gallery.

The book explores British art in relation to British India. It examines the aesthetic interactions initiated by the Anglo-Indian colonial encounter across the disciplines of painting, print-making, design, photography and architecture. It also considers the display of Indian artefacts at exhibitions in Britain and in India and presents the art of urban elites alongside popular arts and artefacts.