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Sales of art from South Asian countries may be booming, but can you find any in our galleries? Despite our city’s significant population of South Asians, their presence is poorly reflected in our art scene. The problem goes even deeper. I recently bumped into the folks at the Sara Sene gallery in Lan Kwai Fong, literally a tiny dark room in a floor above Al’s Diner. Run by acclaimed Sri Lankan political cartoonist Sara Seneviratne, a gallery assistant explained that the space had been opened in response to the general lack of opportunities that South Asian artists have here to showcase their work.

This fortnight, a refreshing wave of inspiration comes to town as the Asia Art Archive’s excellent South Asia Talk Series returns. After a triumphant debut in 2007, they are back with hot artists and curators from the region, delivering free talks in the roomy setting of the Cheung Kong Centre’s Bloomberg Auditorium. Indeed, the AAA has been focusing on India and Pakistan in recent months – paying full time researchers in those regions, and awarding grants to people who are actively documenting the evolving art scenes.

The series kicks off on Tuesday 14^th with The Artist’s Studio: Media Art in Pakistan featuring the remarkable work of Lahore-based Rashid Rana, whose digital mosaics give profound, shocking insights into cultural stereotypes. From afar, his Veil series seems to resemble burqa-shrouded women, but on closer analysis they are made up from hundreds of tiny pornographic images. He does the same with carpets –made up instead of hundreds of tiny images of terrorists and blood stained bodies. On Monday 20^th a second talk Initiating Spaces: Growing Networks features expert, curator and art administrator Pooja Sood: Chairperson of the of KHOJ International Artists' Association, Director of Apeejay Media Gallery, and the Regional Coordinator of an international artists' network facilitated by the Triangle Arts Trust, UK. Sood is a networking genius, whose work is gradually bringing the region together. Let’s hope some local galleries are inspired to do the same. Clare Morin

More info on the talks in Around Town listings.