“Shilpa Gupta’s Blame project was formulated in the wake of such recent events as the conflict in Kargil when India and Pakistan came perilously close to all out conflict, the US-led “war on terror”, and the violence against Muslims in Gujarat. The Blame project was part of Aar-Paar 2002, an artists’ initiative linking Mumbai, India and Karachi, Pakistan: once neighbouring ports on the Arabian Sea, crossroads of economic and cultural interchange, now rivals in a fratricidal conflict between twins separated at birth. Riding on commuter trains, Gupta posed as a salesperson for blame—a commodity in mass-produced oversupply in our times. Commuters are offered packaged blame in little bottles filled with a blood-red fluid, much in the manner of hawkers of cosmetics and panaceas that frequent suburban transport in India. Save that Gupta hawks the very effective product—proven by recent history—that ensures an illusion of security obtained through an apportioning of blame onto others, who are out there, but also, constituents of here; in your “home.” The associated poster or label expounds the soothing virtues of blame (“Blaming you makes me feel so good: so I blame you for what you cannot control…”) in an inversion of the grotesque machinations of contemporary policy whereby those designated as other—nations, communities, belief systems—are held responsible for present ills in any given condition. ”- Chaitanya Sambrani, 'Edge of Desire' exhibition catalogue, 2004