Small-town aesthetics need to be diluted to allow a contemporary idiom to evolve and take root in these cash-rich markets.
At a recent outing for luxury brands in Ludhiana, a Delhi-based gallery found few takers for its selection of modern art, till a local newspaper flashed the news that a painting by M F Husain was priced at Rs 1.5 crore. That spurred a sightseeing deluge, with visitors demanding to be allowed to photograph themselves next to the expensive painting. But in the artwork itself, or in the other works on display, they showed an abysmal lack of interest.
Is art purely a metropolitan trend? Especially when, even here, interest is limited to a minuscule percentage of the population despite the scores of galleries and art institutions? With no such institutions to feed this development in small towns, should they be abandoned to wallow in the indifference of appalling kitsch, fed on romantic and sentimental notions of aesthetics?
It isn’t as though non-metros haven’t had a tradition of artists in residence. Kripal Singh Shekhawat lived in Jaipur (though he subverted his Japanese and Santiniketan training in favour of the local fresco style). Himmat Shah, too, lives in the Pink City, and Chintan Upadhyay’s father was involved with traditional art practice in the state. Thota Vaikuntam and Laxman Aelay are from Hyderabad (though the Deccan city is no longer a backwater, it’s still light years behind Delhi and Mumbai). And Baroda is home to artists such as Bhupen Khakhar, Gulam Mohammad, Nilima Sheikh, Surendran Nair and Rekha Rodwittiya. Even so, local exposure and grasp of art are still at a very basic level.
Attempts to broadbase art have been made by Lalit Kala Akademi, for instance, or art colleges in some state capitals, though nothing has taken the discourse out of these (mostly moribund) precincts to the market. However critically one might view the role of the state in promoting art, its abdication from that responsibility has left a void with only a few interested individuals who have the passion, but not necessarily the wherewithal, to promote contemporary art.
When Harssh Shah launched his Frangipani gallery in Ahmedabad, he hoped to nurture artists in a symbiotic partnership. Finding the right artists was difficult, but training the eyes of visitors, or buyers, fed on a staple diet of calendar kitsch, much more so. The obvious solution of tying up with metro galleries to exhibit the local artists there has two pitfalls: it is self-defeating in that it turns its back on the local market; and, of course, the hugely expensive exercise is most likely to benefit the metro galleries.
The opening of Sanchit Art in Agra is another case in point. Promoted by a family with an interest in leather exports, and located as part of a bazaar experience at ITC Mughal Sheraton, it has works by established artists such as Satish Gujral, Paresh Maity, Jayasri Burman and Sakti Burman. But is there a market for them in Agra? Organising seminars, discussions, viewings, talks and curated experiences might appear like obvious solutions, but who will undertake this cost — and it is a huge cost — on a regular basis?
There is no gainsaying that attempting to change local aesthetics will be an uphill task, but it is worth remembering that before Delhi became the centre for art, it was a barren oasis. If so much has changed in a few decades, it is because gallery owners stuck it out to create exhibitions, museum shows and media interest.
Therefore, one way for small towns to cultivate a sustainable art environment is by reversing the trend and bringing big- city exhibitions, and artists to their doorstep. As big-city galleries hope to widen their base and grow their market and reach, they should welcome such initiatives. While the initial visitor experience might be derisive, over time it can only grow — as it did when Mumbai was Bombay and even the Bombay Art Society exhibitions sold very little, or an artist such as Amrita Sher-Gil whose attempt to establish a school of modernism for India was reflected in extremely weak sales in her short lifetime.
Art camps where visitors are allowed to watch artists at work, visits to homes where art is displayed, and talks by collectors and curators will go a long way in taking contemporary art practices to the country’s hinterlands. And the onus to develop this lies not just with art gallery promoters in these towns (who, however, will enjoy first-mover advantage here) but those from the large cities who hope to invest in new opportunities for themselves when they look beyond the safe but small havens of their immediate environments.
It will also generate and develop an evolving set of aesthetics that will tap into the deep pockets of small-town India.
These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which the writer is associated.
