User:Sunny*081323/gap analysis

Gap analysis

 * What is the title of the article in which you identified a gap. If no article exists at all, what should the title be?

Navjot Altaf


 * Document the gap you found, describe how you identified it, and analyze its impact on knowledge.

I was debating on where to start searching for an interesting artist when I remember the Nalpar piece by Navjot Altaf. This piece truly intrigued me, both being symbolic and a functional piece of art that was incorporated into the everyday life of the villagers. I decided to look up and see what I could find on Wikipedia about Nalpar. To my dismay, there was not only no information about the Nalpar or the similar project Pilla Gudis, but Navjot did not even have a page of her own. Neither she or her previously mentioned art works are mentioned in Indian Artist, Women Indian Artists Feminist art, contemporary art, installation art. The only places I have found her merely mentioned were on the Talwar gallery page and a page on her sculpture The Blue Lady.  I found it very odd that one of her pieces has a page and not her. Navjot is a very influential artist who reaches across many mediums, from videos to sculptures and installation art. Her numerous collaborative art pieces such as the Nalpar brought communities together and touched populations of people that could not be touched by common art demonstrations. With the battle of feminism still ongoing, it is important to give the public every opportunity to learn about feminist arts and the real meaning of feminism.


 * Propose a paragraph of new or substantially edited content based on reliable sources. (If you are editing existing content, post the current version along with your edited version, and clearly mark which is which.)

Navjot Altaf’s artistic career started in 1972 with a Fine Arts Diploma from Sir J.J. School of arts in Bombay, India.2  She is known for her sculptures, video installation, and collaborative installation art with such artists as Rajkumar, Shantibai, Gessuram and various Adivasi tribal members.4  Navjot spent much of her art career in the Bastar district, addressing art and its interaction with political activism particularly involving the violence in India following the Babri Masjid demolition in Ajodhya.3 Beginning in the 1990s, Navjot launched a project with fellow artists to analyze the daily life in the Adivasi villages, examining hierarchy, labor, and protocols of the Adivasi, leading to future collaborations with the Adivasi natives in Chattisgarh, central India.4   After years of interacting and proving to the Adivasi she was not an artist who would collect art and then make it rich in the city, Navjot began collaborative plans for the Nalpar in 1997.1  Navjot’s work here with the Nalpar is the onset of her attempt to escape institutions and galleries, and work directly with people in public spaces.2  The Naplar, various structures surrounding the water pump has both structural and societal goals. Structurally, it prevents water from puddling which offering a breeding ground for malarial mosquitos, and uses the excess water to irrigate crops and water animals.4 The many nocks, crannies and juts allow the Adivasi women to rest their burdens, and help prevent musculoskeletal disorders.3  Socially, Nalpar is a stage, displaying the important labors of the tribal women and gives then an important place of social gathering. By surrounding the pump with artfully designed walls and other structures, the Nalpar partially hides the women from the village’s ever watching eyes, giving them a sanctuary for social interactions that lead to community formation. The Nalpar is trying to give the women more societal hierarchal status, the water pumps becoming a symbolic hub claiming a space for women.4  Over a period of six years, starting in 2001, seven Nalpars have been completed and already visible effects have occurred in the path to remapping the social protocol of the villages.5  This Nalpar structures were worked on by both men and women of the Adivasi villages, alongside Navjot and her companions. This provided the opportunity for social networks to develop between the artist of the different cultures and the connect the Adivasi to other surrounding society on favorable terms.3


 * List the reliable sources that could be used to improve this gap. (You can use the Cite tool from the editing toolbar above to input and format your sources.)


 * 1.    Altaf, Navjot. “Navjot Altaf Bibliography. Navjot Altaf. 2015. Web. 12 Feb 2016. < http://www.navjotaltaf.com/# >
 * 2.    Artsome. “Understanding Navjot Altaf.” Navjot Altaf. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2016. < http://www.artsome.co/Navjot_Altaf >.
 * 3.    Jenny Stayer “Navjot Altaf (Mumbai, India)." Groundworks, Environmental Collaborations in Contemporary Art.  2005, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2016. < http://groundworks.collinsandgoto.com/navjot-altaf-mumbai-india/ >.
 * 4.    Kester, Grant H. The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context. Durham: Duke UP, 2011. Print.
 * 5.    Tan, Leon. “Nalpar and Pilla Gudis.” International Award for Public Art Presentation and Public Art Forum. Institute for Public Art, Apr. 2013. Web. 13 Feb 2016. <  http://www.ipublicart.org/IAPA/en/al_10.html >.