JOIN USNek Chand, who passed away recently in Chandigarh, aged 90, was arguably the most significant ‘outsider’ artist the country had ever seen. He attended no art schools; and almost certainly did not know what the term ‘avant garde’ meant. Yet he single-handedly and passionately pursued an artistic dream to build an imaginary ‘Kingdom of God’.
Today, the iconic ‘Rock Garden’ in Chandigarh that bears his name is acknowledged as one of the modern wonders of the world. The second-most popular cultural site in India (next only to the Taj Mahal) receives thousands of visitors every day, and generates an annual revenue of around Rs 1.80 crore from ticket sales.
Nek Chand’s creative journey began in the 1950s when he was a modest road inspector with the Public Works Department. How he became a closet builder of a miniature fantasy world in the forest during the night; how as a secret gardener, he collected broken crockery, rocks, pottery, tiles and other bits of discarded building materials and consumer debris; and how he meticulously and zealously reincarnated the litter into beautiful sculptural objects using primitive tools are all part of his incredible and well-documented life story.
Fortunately, Nek Chand’s extraordinary creativity that produced a massive throng of human figures, animals and imaginary forms and creatures from ‘junk’ went on to attract national and international attention during his lifetime.
He received many awards including the Padma Shri and the French government’s Grande Medaille de Vermeil. Figures from the Rock Garden featured in exhibitions in London, Berlin and Paris. Australia made a movie about him while France published a 500-page book on the Rock Garden. Quite remarkably, Nek Chand remained unaffected by all the fame and glory, and remained humble till the very last.
His death on June 18, 2015 was grieved by his admirers across the world. Among them was Dr Iain Jackson, whose PhD thesis had investigated the work of Nek Chand and his visionary environment, The Rock Garden.
Currently a senior lecturer at the Liverpool School of Architecture, Dr Jackson was a close associate of Nek Chand, and a scrupulous cataloguer of sculptures in the Rock Garden. Co-author (with Soumyen Bandyopadhyay) of the seminal book The Collection, the Ruin, and the Theatre, which was the result of extensive study and research of the Rock Garden, Dr Jackson recalled his joyous association with Nek Chand in an email interaction with Sunday Herald.
On his coming in contact with Nek Chand’s work:
I first saw his work on the UK television, on a late night arts programme in 1999. I then decided to go to Chandigarh to see this wondrous creation for myself. In June 1999, I spent days exploring the garden, and particularly enjoyed how Nek Chand had woven the existing terrain with his own creations.
On his personal interactions with Nek Chand:
As a person, Nek Chand had a glint in his eyes! As soon as you met him you could see that within the delicate frame there was a gentle, very funny, quiet but not introverted character. When Nek Chand spoke, you listened. He was practical and didn’t expound grand theories. At first he was rather cold towards me as he didn’t like me photographing and measuring the garden.
However, when he saw that I had catalogued every single sculpture in the garden, he immediately realised what I was trying to do. From that moment he helped me in every way and was generous and kind. We spent a lot of time together walking around the garden. We went up to the Shivalik Hills, where he had gathered the first rocks for his creation — he seemed at home up there, and we picked up different stones and imagined what they could be. It was very playful, not at all pretentious.
On Nek Chand’s steadfast commitment:
It just seemed inherent in everything he did. He was clearly obsessed with his work and didn’t ever seem to tire from it. I also think he was stubborn and wanted to keep going because he didn’t want to give in to authority.
There was a rebellious side to the rock garden. It was an act of defiance against the city officials, against Chandigarh and against the demolition of the villages that existed on that plot before Chandigarh was proposed. I also think the spark came from seeing people enjoying themselves. The garden was initially a playground for Nek Chand’s children, and I think he enjoyed seeing families having fun.
On the legacy of Nek Chand:
The legacy of Nek Chand is surely in the creation he has formed. I think the other legacy is his determination to see his vision through. Persevere, keep working hard, be inventive and open-minded. Don’t accept that because an object was once used in a particular way that is its only usage of form. He had the vision to ‘think big’ and by making small changes over a long period, he was able to achieve a lot. Nek Chand has given us a wonderful place. He did it for fun and to give pleasure. He left his part of the world in a better place than he found it. We’ve all got a lot to live up to.
On the future of Nek Chand’s Rock Garden:
I think the rock garden is about people and how we interact. The garden is about delight, surprises and unexpected encounters. It is a place to have fun, and to also think and watch. To spend time with our families, and to also sit back and watch people flirting under the waterfall, or laughing at the monkey sculptures, or playing hide-and-seek around the swings. We are so lucky to have a creation like the rock garden.
I hope it’s carefully preserved and maintained — without becoming vulgarised and commercial. It needs to be a garden first and foremost — and perhaps only a mela ground on occasion.