JOIN USIt has been my good fortune to visit and be a part of many art fairs across the globe, from where I have come away rejuvenated and energised to create more art, and experience more art.
Some fairs left me disappointed too, but the conviction that they were moving in the direction of art were positive signs that needed to be lauded and celebrated. The fact that India is now able to sustain art fairs on its own steam that puts on board art from across the country and parts of Europe is a welcome sign of the times we live in.
While many lament that Indian art doesn’t command internationally-comparable prices, I feel this is only a phase of transition where Indian art is moving in the right direction in terms of its art quality, and has managed to generate the interest of financers and buyers. As for the collectors, they have always found Indian art fascinating.
Yet, in popular psyche, the missing piece of the jigsaw is critical acclaim. India has a long way to go in terms of positioning in the right international forums.
The journey is still nascent for many reasons. The biggest hurdle is getting international curators and critics interested in Indian art. I feel this schism needs to be bridged, both at the collective and the individual level, to develop the outreach of Indian art at the international level.
As for the art itself, it has come a long way from times when many senior artists were earlier enamoured by Western metaphors and subjects, and decried our wonderful craft traditions as being either too “ethnic” or folk. Younger artists are now looking within to find roots that are firm with Indian pedigree and origins.
This Indian outlook is important from many points of view. Apart from patriotic sentiments, it celebrates the sensitive and refined Asian sensibilities and reflects the change that is the reality of the times.
For, it is evident from the track record of art auctions of Indian art that the biggest buyers of Indian art remain Indians or people of Indian origin. This obviously has to do with something so primordial that themes that appeal are locked in deep recesses of one’s mind.
Take the example of Chinese art that today surpasses the art market of the entire world. Here too the biggest “consumers” remain people of Chinese origin.
The sensibility to inculcate sensitivity towards art must be started early, and nurtured faithfully. All over Europe and America, there is a charming tradition of creating space for the art and artists, be it the hill on Montmartre in Paris, the Palace Plaza in Rome, the Leister Square in London, St Mark’s Square in Venice, City Centre in Berlin and Vienna, Zurich and Geneva — the list is endless.
These spaces are open enough to allow the artists to function and display their art, and the audience to interact with them — be they tourists or serious art buyers. From the struggling to the successful, artists of all types find time to visit and work in these spaces in their commitment to the cause of art.
While this module has been successfully replicated for the craft and weaving sectors too, it is surprising that India, despite its great tradition of great art, does not so far have such a space. It is not as if there is no space in our cities for such a venture.
Most cities have a large maidan of some sort where artists and their consumers can converge. Ideally speaking, the winter months, or the blissful time just before winter sets in, would be good for such a venture.
At least in the metros, there is physical space for such a venture — Lodhi Gardens in New Delhi, Victoria Memorial Gardens in Kolkata, Juhu beach in Mumbai, Cubbon Park in Bangalore, Marina beach in Chennai, and amid the Golconda Fort ruins in Hyderabad.
Even if there are not many artists in other cities, there are enough to make this a success once a fortnight — anyway, it’s only for the winter months.
The next concern is about patronage. It is my conviction that such ventures are possible at both national and international levels. The trick is to find a public-private partnership. Do we really need to look outwards for an audience for our arts? Can the Indian patron across the world maintain it? There are huge settlements of Indians in distinct areas.
Perhaps these areas should feature on the artists’ atlas significantly to contribute to and propagate information about the latest on the art map. In this day and age of the internet, these settlements are not too far off anyway.
In the chase for all things universal, indigenous experience has been given the go by. With this, the complete logic of the arts being a sign of our times has been hurtled into the dominion of the questionable. When lifestyles are international, then where does that leave the Indian vision or mindscape?
Isn’t this “Indianness” then what binds it together? If the audiences’ taste is global, will it incline the hand of the creators of art to come up with works that are not rooted in the Indian context? What will be the shelf life of such works?
Will they be able to hold audience interest? Or, will they be mere flash in the pans? These are questions that need to be addressed by all those who are part of the art march in times to come.
Alka Raghuvanshi
(A Delhi-based art writer,curator and artist knownfor her multi-disciplinary approach to the arts)