CURATED BY BARNABY MARTIN

Gajah Gallery is proud to bring the landmark exhibition, Lokanat - Ground Zero to Singapore. The exhibition was the first significant art show in Myanmar to feature foreign artists, including the important Indonesian and international contemporary artists; Nyoman Masriadi, Handiwirman Saputra, Putu Sutawijaya, Mangu Putra, Yunizar, Ai Wei Wei, Ashley Bickerton & Ahmad Zakii Anwar. All the artists involved are highly respected in their own rights, but the undisputed star of the show was Lokanat Galleries itself, with its strict code of conduct.

Jasdeep Sandhu, the owner and founder of Gajah Gallery, together with Barnaby Martin, the curator of the show, spent a year trying to find the perfect exhibition space in Yangon, and in Lokanat Galleries they believe they have found it. Established in 1971, Lokanat is located on 62 Pansodan Street in Yangon. It is a not-for-profit organisation, uncorrupted by money and power, and its goal is to help artists who are pure of heart. There are very few such art outposts left anywhere in the world: “The gallery is a complete trip” commented a delighted Sandhu.

Presenting these leading world artists at Lokanat allowed them to show their work in a context far removed from today's world of auction houses and high-end galleries. This exhibition gave rise to a new and unique dialogue that the contemporary art world has not encountered before and the art was devoured by a hungry Myanmarese art public who have been starved of art for so long.

Through this show, Gajah Gallery humbly imprinted these artists into Lokanat's history, leaving behind footprints in Myanmar's proud heritage and contributing to the intellectual discourse of contemporary art.