Rashmi and Rohit Khattar and his team had planned the whole trip with love, taking care of all the details and needs of the star artists' camp as well as the individual idiosyncratic preferences of its members. Each element whether it was travel or stay or meals or official engagements or private meets- all were planned meticulously to make the whole jamming and camping experience not only fun filled but also to facilitate creativity. We discussed ideas, shared personal stories as well as experiences and got to know each other better besides interacting on a one to one basis with our British counterparts. Living under the same roof the artists have been able to build an understanding that has prompted some exciting new work some of which is included in the show. The weekend in the countryside that involved three-hour road journey by cars was time for relaxing, bonding and creativity full of joy and fun. The drive that took us through the greens and villages around M4 gave us an opportunity to enjoy the beautiful English countryside. The break en-route at Matching Green pub for lunch saw us all let our guards off and to unwind. There was a wedding party going on at the restaurant and with all of us seated under the open blue skyline the place had a magic of its own! The food and drinks that formed a part of the extended lunch break were enough to sustain us through the rest of the journey.

On arrival at Down Hall Country House Hotel at Hatfield Health we were welcomed warmly by the hostess who had taken the trouble to plan our stay in painstaking detail. The Italian-style mansion with a history dating back to 1540 set in 110 acres of beautiful woodland and its grand interiors including fine furnishings, antiques, brilliant chandeliers and exquisite tapestries, offered a perfect setting for the weekend retreat and some creativity. In the tranquil space amidst amazing English countryside, the artists felt inspired to sketch, draw and paint. The beautiful surroundings also provided a perfect setting for discussion on how we should plan the show and this publication. The paint, brush and camera were in-separable companions for many of the artists throughout the camp besides Amit managing to capture some very special moments in his camera, including the drama when all of us including the wedding party guests as well as the bride and bridegroom who were also staying at the Mansion that weekend, had to rush out of rooms on Sunday morning at the siren of a false fire alarm! Some of these memorable moments are reproduced in this book. It was here that we also got a taste of local hospitality with traditional English delicacies, to include a variety of cuisines and experiences. On the way back from the weekend getaway, we stopped at the vast Blue -Water Mall to splurge and have a lunch. Shopping was naturally high on everyone's agenda as people indulged themselves in buying things ranging from art materials, specialist paper and pens to expensive technical gizmos and gift items for their loved ones. But the lunch experience here was different from our more relaxed break in a more congenial atmosphere at the pub on the way in as the service in the food court at the mall was slow and impersonal.

Not wanting to miss out on any bit, some of the artists led by a couple of the more senior members of the group went pub hopping late into the night on a couple of occasions during the week long camp while they also did some networking as several of the London based galleries and collectors of Indian art continued to chase them around! The collective spirit of being a part of the Sitaaray camp ensured that even when some of them went off on occasions to do their own thing they returned in time for all the scheduled group meetings. The spirits were high and collaboration amazing with no signs of any conflict around. By the end of the week, the group had come closer together and it saw us teasing each other and enjoying ourselves uninhibitedly. There was an amazing moment when Anjolie spontaneously lied down on the floor of the gallery in front of Jogen's painting to pose like the protagonist in his work with one leg up and her arm thrown in the air! The British

press photographers present on the occasion relished this greatly and clicked incessantly to capture the posturing. But it was not all play and the artists also managed to find time to create, converse and interact during the week. They made portraits and sketches for each other that were then generously gifted as tokens of friendship. The tour ended with a memorable evening over a closing dinner party at Tamarai, OWH's new fine dine and multi use specially designed state of the art space, the day before the group caught their return flight back home.

The art camp was a special platform for bonding that stimulated some animated discussions and hot arguments around the global art scene with some introspection on where Indian art stands today, the need for some experimentation and how to resist the market pressures. We also reflected on how to bring Indian art into mainstream British art galleries and get it across to the public and media there and if and how our work is different from theirs. The freedom from work pressures and a change in surroundings where we could see something of the British art scene from a closer perspective and space as well as our interactions with some of the curators reinforced the point that art is a serious business about creativity, research and scholarship besides marketing. We realized that our catalogues and books on art do not have the substance of content and context that would make them useful resource materials for global readership. As we traveled together in a group, our encounters with each other and those we met through our journeys have impacted on the work in one way or another as can be seen in much of the work included in the show.