Arrival Cities. Migrating Artists and New Metropolitan Topographies in the 20th Century

Exile and migration played a critical role in the diffusion and development of modernism around the globe, yet have remained largely understudied phenomena within art historiography. Focusing on the intersections of exile, artistic practice, and urban space, this volume brings together contributions by international researchers committed to revising the historiography of modern art. It pays particular attention to metropolitan areas that were settled by migrant artists in the first half of the 20th century. These arrival cities became hubs of artistic activities and transcultural contact zones where ideas circulated, collaborations emerged, and concepts developed. Taking six major cities as a starting point — Bombay (now Mumbai), Buenos Aires, Istanbul, London, New York, and Shanghai — the authors explore how urban topographies and landscapes were modified by exiled artists re-establishing their practices in these and other metropolises across the world. Questioning the established canon of Western modernism, Arrival Cities investigates how the migration of artists to different urban spaces impacted their work and the historiography of art. In doing so, it aims to encourage the discussion between scholars from different research fields, such as exile studies, art history, architectural history, design history, urban studies, and history

(Re)routing and (Re)rooting in Urban Exile

In the first half of the 20th century two private homes in Buenos Aires and Bombay became the nodding point for creative exchanges between local and exiled artists. The Villa of Victoria Ocampo – writer, founder of Sur magazine and key figure in the art scene of Buenos Aires – was a space of encounters between Argentine writers such as José Luis Borges with emigré artists like the Spanish poet Rafael Alberti. The Villa was architecturally a mix of vernacular elements with European style features. Equally cooperative in spirit was the cultural circle around the Jassim House in Bombay. The three Asian co-founders of MARG magazine Mulk Raj Anand, Anil and Minnette de Silva were sewed into a diverse exile network here. Together with the Austrian artist couple Käthe and Walter Langhammer as well as the Indian art collector Homi Bhaba, they fostered a unique discourse on art and architecture. Again, the built environment resembled this social openness and permeability. Based on historic text and photographic material the paper analyses the human and non-human relations of these contact zones. Deploying Actor-Network-Theory it asks, which spatial, aesthetic, and personal factors constitute the “agency” (Latour 2010) of these social infrastructures in two metropolises shaped by emigration. In conclusion, the paper outlines the conditions for transcultural exchange in urban exile