How big the contemporary artists are in today’s India? From
within the limited constituency of fine arts the cultural influence that the
artists could exert in this society seems to be very nominal if not negligible.
The naked disavowal of the contemporary artists came in the wake of the
terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26th November 2008, which later on
named ‘26/11’ after the infamous ‘9/11’ in the US. The enthusiastic and new
hounding media personalities scrambled through the city of Mumbai and sought
the response of people from various cross sections of the citizenry, clearly
avoiding the voice of the artists who resided in the same city. While the
Bollywood actors vocalized their angst, the visual artists were largely
neglected. In 2008 November, the global meltdown was only two months old and in
Indian art market the effects of it were yet to reflect. Till the day before 15th
September 2008, the day Lehman Brothers applied for bankruptcy status, Indian
contemporary artists were page three regulars and they were coloring the city
in all the possible ways. Some artists had even claimed, I remember, saying
that the boom in the market was facilitated by the hard work of the Indian
artists.
One could pardon him instantly for the sheer lack of the
understanding of economics and the underlying games that set the market balls
rolling. Though not from the fine arts, it was the creative people who
mobilized large scale opinion formation in our country since the Indian
independence. They were successful in adequately raising barriers against the
bulldozers of ideological, political and religious arrogance at various stages
in India’s post-Independence history. 6th December 1992 was one such
point when the creative people upped their aesthetical and pacifistic resistance.
They were successful to certain extent when the horrendous riots happened in
Gujarat in 2002. Once the witch hunting started against the secularists and the
rationalists in our country ever since the right wing BJP came into power at
the center under the leadership of Mr.Narendra Modi, the writers, scientists,
dancers, historians, theoreticians and so on came en bloc against the brutal
acts of intolerance by the fringe forces of the right wing party covertly and
overtly supported by the core ideologues of the Hindutva. Somehow the artists
were missing from the action.
(Martyr for a Better world- Rohith Vemula condoled by friends)
Was it because the artists do not really cut such large
figures in our society or is it because our artists, at least some of them who
are having larger than life image in society, are apathetic towards or afraid
of the fascist forces? Narendra Dhabolkar was not really known to everyone in
India. Govind Pansare was also not a huge figure like M.F.Husain or FN.Souza.
M.M.Kalburgi was known only to those people in the rationalist circuit. K.S.Bhagawan
became a national figure when he received death threats from the right wing
hooligans. But their deaths could have been lost in the wilderness had it not
been their work and influence that they had exercised in their own circuits.
Akhlaq at Dadri who allegedly had cow meat in his fridge was not a national
figure of any sort but he came to represent the helplessness of so many
ordinary Indian citizens irrespective of their religion, in exercising their
fundamental rights. The Dalit children who were burnt alive (whose death was
ticked off as the death of stray dogs by none other than the former Chief of
Indian Army and a junior minister in the present central government,
Mr.V.K.Singh) became emblematic of our struggle of equal rights and justice. But
our artists have completely failed to live up to the times. I have not seen the
contemporary artists making bold public statements against such atrocities.
It does not mean that these artists do not have an opinion.
Somehow they are afraid of telling it as it is. Definitely many of them must be
expressing their angst through their works of art. But like many of the female
artists in India who do ‘feminist’ sort of bold works and at once deny their
affinity towards ‘feminism’ (which they detest like a bad word) , most of the
Indian artists, though do works that stand against the right wing
fundamentalism avoid speaking about it in public. I believe, if people are not
heeding to the words of the contemporary artists on social issues mainly
because they do not find anything connecting between their works and
themselves. Does that show that our artists live in fools’ paradises, totally
avoiding people’s concerns and living in ivory towers? The artists need to
think about it. If the journalists are not asking questions to the contemporary
artists regarding the social issues, then it must not be taken as their lack of
awareness about the concerns of Indian contemporary art or artists, on the
contrary it should be understood as their awareness that these artists are the
makers of ‘beauty’ not always ‘truth’.
(Martyr of Beef- Akhlaq of Dadri)
One may object citing the fact that artists like Anish
Kapoor and Salman Rushdie have come out strongly against the right wing and
fascist leanings of the Government of India. One may say that they are living
in foreign countries and are safe enough to express their opinions. But it is
not so. Anish Kapoor for vocalizing his views on the Indian government has in
fact lost a chance to be one of the cultural advisors of the Rajasthan
government. Salman Rushdie is definitely not a favorite of government of India
for more than one reason. Interestingly, just before the recently concluded
Bihar assembly elections, when asked about the political affiliations and the
state of the Indian polity, the most recognized artist, Subodh Gupta, in his
typical way said that the elections would bring a great change. Yes, the
victory of the Grand Alliance in Bihar against the BJP could be seen as the
‘thing’ in Gupta’s mind. But in a different scenario with BJP coming to power
in the state, he could have got away with the same statement and remained in
the good book of the BJP also.
(Anish Kapoor)
This ambivalence is the real problem with most of the artist
and artist communities in India. The gallerists suddenly moving towards
supporting the traditional and tribal art is an indication of how they would
like to play the game safely. Also there is a sudden lull amongst the
performance art activists. These artists who have been doing bold
presentations, social interventions, nude performances and so on under the
benevolent regime of the former UPA government, suddenly seem to have gone
hiding. I can see a lot of artists incorporating the images of Indian gods and
goddesses in their works. Also one could see a strong sense of decoration and
voluptuousness creeping into the works of art of the present day. There are
works of art by the conceptual artists but they often discuss generic themes
like women’s liberation, social equality, spaces, urban locations, migration
and so on. I do not say that these issues are less pertinent. But they look a
bit misplaced given the political and social climate of our country today. And
I have all the reasons to think that there is a strange amount of
self-restraint from the artists themselves. While I consider that these are
survival tactics that the contemporary artists adopt, therefore should be left
alone, there are many of them in the name of economic success and compromised
survival, getting headlong into the projects that obviously help perpetuating
the right wing ideologies. When I come to know some of the people who organize
the biggest art events in this country and vouch for political art go around
seeking money and are ready to facilitate the government projects provided
enough money is sanctioned.
(Late Hema Upadhyay)
At times artists look like betrayers. When in India, the
writers were giving up their awards, the artists were simply keeping quite.
There are several artists organizations in our country and SAHMAT is one of the
leading organizations in Delhi. But the SAHMAT platform too has become an
annual pilgrimage center for the self-proclaimed revolutions and contractors of
social changes who do not like people with different opinions joining forces
with them, thereby reducing it into a coterie of back patters and mutual sycophants.
The artists part in SAHMAT have become a prop in the hands of the organizers
and the organization has fallen into the hands of the so called ‘radical
artists’. In the safe zone of the annual function, the visual artists actually
do the works (revoltingly on flex prints) which do not impact anybody at all.
While the writers, historians, scientists, film makers, actors, theatre
personalities and so on openly and brazenly come out against the right wing
fundamentalism, our artists are still scrambling around to find a safer turf to
play the game safe.
(From Living Museum initiated by Chintan Upadhyay in Partapur, Rajasthan in 2008-09)
People today do not heed to the words of the contemporary
artists. Despite the efforts of the journalists who try to popularize the works
of the contemporary artists, they remain obscure in the minds of the people
because the artist shave failed to touch the human chords with their sensitive
works. I do not say that such works are not produced; but they are not seen or
discussed. Rather the artists who produce them do not come out in the open and
talk. I wish them to talk and take the risk. The recent example that has been
haunting me for quite some time is the plight of my friend Chintan Upadhyay. He
has been a very vocal artist who somehow has fallen into the bad times today.
He has provoked so many people not only through his works but also through his
words. If you ask me, I would say his biggest contribution is there in the
village of Partapur in Rajasthan where he had initiated the Sandarbh Nature
workshop which has now international presence. In Partapur in an old building
he started a ‘living museum’ where the museum display comprised of the daily
utensils of people which they displayed when not in use and took away when they
were needed to be used in farms and other work sites. But Chintan is today in
judicial custody for the alleged involvement in his wife’s death. Friends have
been campaigning for his release but the campaign has not found a national
momentum.
(From Kalakakshi protest in Kerala- artists drawing portraits of patients in hospitals)
Why, the Justice for Hema and Chintan campaign has still not
gained the momentum nationally even like the Kalakakshi, an artist non-profit
group that moved against the Kerala State Police, which gained popular support
from all over India via social media. The support group that works towards gaining
justice for Chintan and Hema somehow could not reap massive support for Chintan
should think about why their movement is not yet a large scale national
cultural movement or at least a movement that involves a majority of the artist
community. In my view it comes from two fundamental reasons; first of all, it
is a legal issue now and under the purview of the Indian judiciary, and many
would not like to comment openly on it mainly because of the sensitivity of the
case not only as a legal matter but also as a case that involves the murder of
two people. Secondly, the matter of a contemporary artist’s plight has become
confined within the limited constituency of the artists as most of the general
public sees the case as a matter of crime and the ensuing punishment. Chintan’s
contribution as an artist does not come in between his present plight and the
culturally inclined people in this country. Is it because that the work of art
done by Chintan or in that case by any artist eventually does not touch the
lives of people that they become almost nullified in their social existence?
(In front of People's Living Museum initiated by Chintan Upadhyay- from left JohnyML, Somu Desai and Lochan Upadhyay)
I have been mulling it over for the last couple of days as
the news of Rohith Vemula’s death has hit the national news and has become a
focal point for the rallying of dissenting voices against the central government
and the right wing fundamentalism. Though there cannot be any comparison
between Chintan or Hema and Rohith Vemula, a forcible comparison would deduce
the fact that Rohith’s death has touched the conscience of our nation because
he killed himself for raising a public issue, a very sensitive issue that
touches upon the hearts and lives of a majority of the people in this country;
social and caste oppression on Dalits. But Chintan’s incarceration or Hema’s
death has not touched the people like the way Rohith’s death has. Hema’s death
had shaken up the country exactly the way any double murder involving some
celebrities would have done. But then right in front of our eyes we saw how the
issue is being pushed to the inner pages of the newspapers and to the personal
pages of some friends. Comparing Rohith’s contribution to the social cause when
he was alive with those of Chintan and Hema, his must be negligible as this
artists-duo together and separately had invoked national and international
social issues in their works. But Rohith’s death became a people’s issue
whereas Chintan’s incarceration or Hema’s death has not become a people’s
issue. Where exactly we, as contemporary artists failed? Have we failed
completely in touching the hearts of the people despite our intelligent dealing
with the social issues? It is high time to think about it. Even if we have
raised pivotal issues, why people could not understand it? Is it because our
efforts to evoke a response in the social sphere through aesthetic means were
aborted in the galleries? If that is an eventuality which cannot be scuttled,
wouldn’t there be a need to speak up using our tongues? Why we shirk and shy
away when the pivotal issues haunt us? None in the art community has spoken up
against Rohith’s death even after Mr.Ashok Vajpayee has given his D.Litt back
to the Hyderabad Central University which had ousted Rohith. Where have we gone
wrong? It is imperative that someone has to hang until none comes forward. But
if none comes forward, then our art is going to be spineless and tongue-less.
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