I would like the readers to understand my proposition for writing of this kind before venturing into the thematic. As everyone knows that Indian art criticism has long been reduced to gossips and celebrity flattery in one end and academic/ theoretical ‘jouissance’ on the other, the only real space for any criticism I feel is left in casual talks and slips of tongue which at least bring to fore some discussions and genuine issues regarding the contemporary art world’s functioning. It is also keeping in mind the strange fear of loosing the little oversaturated market of many serious artists who imaginarily subvert within the sophisticated languages of catalogue activism against the system. I hope these notes might give an agency for their un/consciously and dynamically suppressed ‘real’ criticism of the system. At last it is also keeping in mind my just happening career which would be at stake if one goes for “yet another critical writing” which would be pleasing the art world and maintain the status quo of its liberal, open, inclusive character. Since it’s about installation art, as everybody tells I leave this writing as open ended for the readers to decipher the bits and pieces of specific and general events/artworks I am mentioning.
Baroda is in every way a microcosm of the Indian art world. Probably one would not get such a variety of artists and practice even in any other metropolitan art centers. It would be an arduous task to trace the historical development of installation art in Baroda as there is nothing to refer to. For that sake even the changes in conventional art practice has not yet been systematically written about after the only book ‘Contemporary art in Baroda’(edited by Gulam sheikh). Though there have been serious attempt/s through other means of writing like catalogues (Beyond credos-curated by shivaji panicker, catalogue written by santosh sadanand) on the changes in the art scene here it had to be restricted within the dynamics of an all inclusive gallery show. But installation as a practice has not yet been documented. This makes the context interesting because one is immediately suspicious about the quality of this practice not just in Baroda but even in India as a whole. Also since contemporary Indian art history is tragically caught up in the coffee table flattering catalogues of the artists one has no other option other than referring these to have an insight of what is happening. But unlike other art centers like Bombay, Delhi and Bangalore, artists in Baroda are said to be cautious about picking up the “spectacle culture” which has plagued the Indian art world. As one senior artist put, there has been a resistance in that level because here there are few artists who have seriously attempted to understand the possibilities of language which is part of the local/national cultural ethos. The best known examples would be the attempts in continuing the popular, narrative, satirical and allegorical traditions of Indian art and literature. Interestingly even after the new media christened foreign agency and gallery funded artists have proclaimed the obsoleteness of the conventional art forms, there are artists here who are still able to upturn cultural and social imageries and imaginations with the painted image without giving in to the official and totalitarian discourse of culture.
Any practice in Baroda is inseparably related to the practice in the faculty. And also, since it’s only the students who are experimenting, I would briefly talk about this.
Though there is the legacy of a school (narrative, figurative) within the academy and outside one is often pushed to think whether even today’s practice gains currency only because the artists are associated with this place. One of the reasons which might support this is that most of the artists doing installation art display it outside Baroda and not in Baroda. Obviously the lack of a professional gallery is perhaps a reason. But for a community (if at all) which has always taken the avant-garde stand, it should not be a problem. Also as another artist told many practitioners here have a sound economic background that they don’t at least need a gallery sponsored preview in Baroda. Though there have been a few previews, many a times it’s only for friends and likeminded. This obviously creates a disconnection for the students to know the real experience of such sensory based installations. One can also try to connect this with the idea that students have nothing to look up for inspiration here.
If one compares with the activities in other art metropolis, where funded talks and discussions are conducted every three days Baroda at least has remained calm out of this “facebook phenomena” of projecting ‘happening’ places. But this has also taken a toll in the overall practice, because students are easily jumping into readily available images and information without a critical outlook. One just needs to see the recycled display of imageries for a past few years in the faculty submission to understand this phenomenon. Even regarding art history, as an ex-student said it just touches upon few individuals and their practices and doesn’t explore the changes in the nature of the artwork from an object to other forms. This has definitely impacted in the students practice in adopting information without knowing the context in which the artwork was created.
The art practice in Baroda has a peculiarity unlike other centers. There is a very thin line between the faculty curriculum and the practice outside the faculty. Though the ‘spectacle culture’ is fast catching the student’s displays there is still a check within the faculty. I would not further digress into the (dys) functioning of the faculty because it’s not within the purview of the present writing. But since there are still some really functional individuals in certain departments and there is a scope for a discussion regarding this practice, I had just braced upon this site which is ripe for an excavation in all strata.
Again comparing other art centers you have a few gallery established artists who are really busy in Baroda. As a senior and an emerging artist told that in Baroda since we have artists available unlike other busy art centers you have a scope for discussing and interacting regarding practice. So at least in that way there is a culture of closed door discussions within artist groups. But other than a few galleries from Delhi and Bombay who have contracted artists (but liberally) there is very less of support for particularly young artists to explore the medium of installation. The seasonal descent of collectors and art store owners, though have a guided tour by the artists in position, has not created a culture of genuine support for many young artists who are really willing to experiment. Because of the absence of a proper supportive system ‘ambitious’ installation projects have to wait till the funds are ready. Though this is a genuine problem, the scale and the amount required for many of these installations really make one wonder how the official discourse has interpolated the foundations of any thinking regarding installation. As an artist academician put “Somewhere one thinks that installation and new media is something else. This disconnection is very difficult to make them realize”. Interestingly even when cheap and recycled materials are used they take unwarranted scale and money. This is best visible in the faculty submission where students spend lakhs of rupees for just an academic formality of displaying the year long work for grading. Now the students pre-pone their christening ritual into the market in academic submissions itself!
Though Baroda has a handful of foundations proclaimed/supported emerging artists, the nature of their installations/artwork are far from really probing into the intricacies of the language. They reproduce in different mediums newer, fantastic visualities or specifically putting, mix up traditional and contemporary objects for titillating consumption according to the taste of the system. One would also think about the sad culture of activism which starts with writing projects for funding and ends in showing documents of the projects to apply for fund again. Though one must surely appreciate the N.G.O foundations that readily jump into supporting activist projects, such an easy formula for activist art needs to be questioned for its libertarian social cause. Unfortunately many artist activisms start and ends in the galleries whose owners are enthralled about this intellectual tag added to their products. I would also like to mention the talk about few artists who blew the boom bubbles from the edifices of market only to remain underground when their benefactors “shut their shop”. The change in the economic structures with globalization surely directed the flow of capital into newer fields like art. But unfortunately since art was far away from the main course of the capital flows when a bit of apprehension was felt the channel of money was redirected to other fertile areas. It’s not surprising that many artists have lost their position with this redirection of market flows. Obviously its offseason for the production of artwork, then lets forget the case about huge installations.
Without intervening further in the general idea of installation art in India and specifically Baroda, I honestly want to confess that I wanted to write about the practice of installation but the environmental conditions surrounding the practice is so cold that I had to write such a piece for gaining entry into this spectacular language as its practiced here. With a definite wish to systematically study the genuine and serious efforts of some of the artists here in Baroda I would end these notes with a very relevant quote regarding the practice/practitioners… “The cynical subject is quite aware of the distance between the ideological mask and the social reality, but he none the less still insists upon the mask. The formula, as proposed by Sloterdijk, would then be: "they know very well what they are doing, but still, they are doing it". Cynical reason is no longer naïve, but is a paradox of an enlightened false consciousness: one knows the falsehood very well, one is well aware of a particular interest hidden behind an ideological universality, but still one does not renounce it.” (Cynicism as a Form of Ideology Slavoj Zizek.The Sublime Object of Ideology)
V.Divakar,
Baroda
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Interview with Shivaji Panikkar and Santosh sadanand
# How do you think one can intervene with a curatorial theoretical project when there is suddenly an excess of programmes/ events already “cultivating professional curators”?
According to us it is absolutely useful to have several events running parallel to each other attempting to ‘cultivate’ professional curators and redefine curatorial practices as such; given that each one has its own focus and purpose. In principle, these initiatives, as such can have certain reciprocity, and can develop interactive possibilities and may give rise to valuable understanding about the practices of curation. At the same time, one has to keep a productive skepticism about the sudden surge of lot of curatorial programs, supported by various agencies and institutions. The fact is that presently no university level educational institution in the country is offering any professional training in curation. But on the other hand due to various reasons curation as a specialized activity has come to exist in the Indian art scene since over about fifteen years. Our skepticism and critique of the nature of most of the on- going practices of curation in the country was central in the conceptualization while we are mooted the idea of a travelling workshop around curatorial theory. We think that most of the curatorial ventures, with very few exceptions, are merely about putting together an art exhibition. Most of these put-ups are largely for commercial purposes, and definitively lacked any critical or historical insights as such, and so we felt the need to think in the direction of inculcating art critical inputs into this rapidly growing cultural practice. Moreover, our academic interest in developing a curriculum for a university level course on critical curation is also a central factor of this initiative. It is because of this reason that we decided to pitch the workshop program at the level of a critical engagement with existing curatorial practices as well as theoretical developments.
# since its pronounced as a academic project how do you think the fine arts institutes in India would be responding(if at all) considering the obsolete condition of art historical departments in most of the institutes?
Well, we hope to draw some participants of each workshop from the fine arts institutes. Well, given the dismal conditions there off, it will be difficult to predict the interest from such quarters, or the impact or result of such short term program upon the institutions and their pedagogy. But, we hope that these series of workshop definitely would produce certain impact on the present academic scenario. In other words, this initiative itself can be read as an attempt to create alternative pedagogical spaces.
# Having provided a well researched, interesting, important reading material, Do you think the class room habits of reading, presenting, discussing and re-presenting the information provided and the concept notes would be creatively answering the professional and non academic needs of the practice.
First of all, one of the principle aims of these workshops is to develop the conceptual ambit of curatorial practices. It is central in redefining curatorial practices as critical cultural practices. To facilitate this, a thorough reading on the theoretical aspects of curatorial practices is introduced as a crucial component of these workshops. Having a specific reader for each workshop, insistence on reading, presenting, re-presenting and discussing, and again developing a curation-concept-note and it’s presenting, re-presenting and discussing, is basically an exercise that we consider as a crucial input necessary for developing self-sufficient curator professionals with inbuilt critical and historical knowledge. Our conviction is that if the academic/theoretical ground is sound, the practical aspects will evolve on its own. But, in any case the focus of the workshop is on the academic rigor and not the non- academic/practical issues. We may add that there are agencies like KHOJ and many different kinds of galleries in the country dealing with the non- academic/practical aspects, and the aspiring curators will need to negotiate and re-negotiate with what is possible and what is not, when they have to translate their ideas into reality. Moreover, there are also curatorial projects which are absolutely virtual (say using internet) which do not require to deal with the so called non- academic/practical/infrastructural issues.
# What were the short comings you felt with regard to the first workshop and how do you think of overcoming them particularly with regards to multi disciplinary practices/ participants?
The very first workshop that was held in Baroda was deliberately broad-based and that was it strength and its limitation. Strength because it generated discussions on varied areas and in that sense was exploratory. The limitation was that it was difficult to go deeper into some of the areas that were identified, which we hope will be addressed in the forthcoming events. Despite thematic focus envisaged in the forthcoming events, the aspect of multi disciplinary practices/ participants will be maintained, we hope.
# Considering the fact that the entire Indian art world is still not clear about the changes in the forms of artwork itself how do you think a curatorial theoretical programme would address the needs of the art-community.
The absence of a clear understanding about the rapid pace in which the idea of art work is constantly changing indicates certain crucial questions regarding curation and the field of artistic production in general. If curation is just a mere act of showcasing the art in the way in which we understand, define, and experience the ‘art work’ and a certain mode of contextualization then it would be difficult to define its political efficacy. On the contrary, if curation as a critical cultural practice is at par with redefining the existing modes of artistic production, dissemination and consumption then only it would able to redefine the normative and hegemonic conception about the art-community itself (considering the fact that the gallery- going and largely elite group defines and determines the community as such). Ideally, a critical curatorial practice should make sure the inoperativeness of this community; and in fact that should be the prime motto and mover of its critical spirit.
# other than organizing workshops what would be the function of this nodal center for curation theory.
Apart from the series of five workshops and one colloquium, we hope to develop a course structure/curriculum for curatorial studies at post-graduate level in the university.
# how did your experience of curating (beyond credos) and organizing (multitudes, tracing erasures and other shows) help while working on this project.
We don’t see any serious implication of these shows upon the workshop projects on curation. Our interest about this initiative is largely drawn from the academic and pedagogical dimensions of curation than our own curatorial or organizational experiences per se.
# What is the significance of selecting these places for conducting the workshop which is not within the ambit of the gallery centers so also about curations.
We observed that generally many arts related activities are happening in metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai and there is no need to add one more event in such places. One of the thematic focuses in the workshops is going to be exploring the regional identity questions in relation to national mainstream. Moreover, we wanted to explore the specific dynamics of art making and showing in relation to marginal regions say like Kerala, North East or Jammu and Kashmir. Art history of these regions are somehow been sidelined while writing or curating national histories. Then, there is also a question of how to frame/curate the seemingly backward art. Going by the developments in the recent past, each of these centers have a specific social and political history which needs to be seen in relation to artistic expressions. By having equal representation reserved for the local participants in each of these workshops we hope to understand the problematic of representing the issues that exists in these regional areas.
# Why do you think the topic of region, gender and sexualities is relevant for the workshop in Kerala?
Of course these thematic are important for any place. But at the same time, we hope such initiatives may strengthen the debates around these thematic in the Kerala public sphere. These observations we are making considering the fact that there are already a lot of debates are taking place in Kerala regarding these issues. For instance, the recent controversy over the repeated attack on a dalit women auto-rickshaw driver Chitralekha by the Left trade union (male) workers, and the subsequent debates about the nature of mainstream feminism and dalit feminist’s critique on them and discussions around the newer modes of patriarchal structures and their moral policing etc. illustrate these.
However, from the experience we have gathered from Baroda workshop these are areas that needed urgent focus in a general and broader level too. Region as a focus is possibly going to remain in the two more events; in Jammu as well in North East. Another topic of significance is with regard to Art Historical discipline and museum curation, curating popular culture, which hopefully we would be able to address in the Hyderabad event. There are also thematic like curation and new media art and photography, which would also be addressed in subsequent events. It is also closely linked to developing the curriculum through these series of intellectual engagement. By giving a special (but broader) thematic to each workshop would enable us to identify specific areas, which need unique attention in the academic curriculum.
# How have the galleries which are promoting the present mode of curations react to your project.
Apart from a few gallery owners showed interest in attending some of the open sessions which we have welcomed, there are no specific reactions from any of these quarters regarding the workshops. However, we hope to have certain inputs from them, which was the reason why we had invited Arshia Lokhandwala as a Resource Person in the Baroda workshop.
According to us it is absolutely useful to have several events running parallel to each other attempting to ‘cultivate’ professional curators and redefine curatorial practices as such; given that each one has its own focus and purpose. In principle, these initiatives, as such can have certain reciprocity, and can develop interactive possibilities and may give rise to valuable understanding about the practices of curation. At the same time, one has to keep a productive skepticism about the sudden surge of lot of curatorial programs, supported by various agencies and institutions. The fact is that presently no university level educational institution in the country is offering any professional training in curation. But on the other hand due to various reasons curation as a specialized activity has come to exist in the Indian art scene since over about fifteen years. Our skepticism and critique of the nature of most of the on- going practices of curation in the country was central in the conceptualization while we are mooted the idea of a travelling workshop around curatorial theory. We think that most of the curatorial ventures, with very few exceptions, are merely about putting together an art exhibition. Most of these put-ups are largely for commercial purposes, and definitively lacked any critical or historical insights as such, and so we felt the need to think in the direction of inculcating art critical inputs into this rapidly growing cultural practice. Moreover, our academic interest in developing a curriculum for a university level course on critical curation is also a central factor of this initiative. It is because of this reason that we decided to pitch the workshop program at the level of a critical engagement with existing curatorial practices as well as theoretical developments.
# since its pronounced as a academic project how do you think the fine arts institutes in India would be responding(if at all) considering the obsolete condition of art historical departments in most of the institutes?
Well, we hope to draw some participants of each workshop from the fine arts institutes. Well, given the dismal conditions there off, it will be difficult to predict the interest from such quarters, or the impact or result of such short term program upon the institutions and their pedagogy. But, we hope that these series of workshop definitely would produce certain impact on the present academic scenario. In other words, this initiative itself can be read as an attempt to create alternative pedagogical spaces.
# Having provided a well researched, interesting, important reading material, Do you think the class room habits of reading, presenting, discussing and re-presenting the information provided and the concept notes would be creatively answering the professional and non academic needs of the practice.
First of all, one of the principle aims of these workshops is to develop the conceptual ambit of curatorial practices. It is central in redefining curatorial practices as critical cultural practices. To facilitate this, a thorough reading on the theoretical aspects of curatorial practices is introduced as a crucial component of these workshops. Having a specific reader for each workshop, insistence on reading, presenting, re-presenting and discussing, and again developing a curation-concept-note and it’s presenting, re-presenting and discussing, is basically an exercise that we consider as a crucial input necessary for developing self-sufficient curator professionals with inbuilt critical and historical knowledge. Our conviction is that if the academic/theoretical ground is sound, the practical aspects will evolve on its own. But, in any case the focus of the workshop is on the academic rigor and not the non- academic/practical issues. We may add that there are agencies like KHOJ and many different kinds of galleries in the country dealing with the non- academic/practical aspects, and the aspiring curators will need to negotiate and re-negotiate with what is possible and what is not, when they have to translate their ideas into reality. Moreover, there are also curatorial projects which are absolutely virtual (say using internet) which do not require to deal with the so called non- academic/practical/infrastructural issues.
# What were the short comings you felt with regard to the first workshop and how do you think of overcoming them particularly with regards to multi disciplinary practices/ participants?
The very first workshop that was held in Baroda was deliberately broad-based and that was it strength and its limitation. Strength because it generated discussions on varied areas and in that sense was exploratory. The limitation was that it was difficult to go deeper into some of the areas that were identified, which we hope will be addressed in the forthcoming events. Despite thematic focus envisaged in the forthcoming events, the aspect of multi disciplinary practices/ participants will be maintained, we hope.
# Considering the fact that the entire Indian art world is still not clear about the changes in the forms of artwork itself how do you think a curatorial theoretical programme would address the needs of the art-community.
The absence of a clear understanding about the rapid pace in which the idea of art work is constantly changing indicates certain crucial questions regarding curation and the field of artistic production in general. If curation is just a mere act of showcasing the art in the way in which we understand, define, and experience the ‘art work’ and a certain mode of contextualization then it would be difficult to define its political efficacy. On the contrary, if curation as a critical cultural practice is at par with redefining the existing modes of artistic production, dissemination and consumption then only it would able to redefine the normative and hegemonic conception about the art-community itself (considering the fact that the gallery- going and largely elite group defines and determines the community as such). Ideally, a critical curatorial practice should make sure the inoperativeness of this community; and in fact that should be the prime motto and mover of its critical spirit.
# other than organizing workshops what would be the function of this nodal center for curation theory.
Apart from the series of five workshops and one colloquium, we hope to develop a course structure/curriculum for curatorial studies at post-graduate level in the university.
# how did your experience of curating (beyond credos) and organizing (multitudes, tracing erasures and other shows) help while working on this project.
We don’t see any serious implication of these shows upon the workshop projects on curation. Our interest about this initiative is largely drawn from the academic and pedagogical dimensions of curation than our own curatorial or organizational experiences per se.
# What is the significance of selecting these places for conducting the workshop which is not within the ambit of the gallery centers so also about curations.
We observed that generally many arts related activities are happening in metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai and there is no need to add one more event in such places. One of the thematic focuses in the workshops is going to be exploring the regional identity questions in relation to national mainstream. Moreover, we wanted to explore the specific dynamics of art making and showing in relation to marginal regions say like Kerala, North East or Jammu and Kashmir. Art history of these regions are somehow been sidelined while writing or curating national histories. Then, there is also a question of how to frame/curate the seemingly backward art. Going by the developments in the recent past, each of these centers have a specific social and political history which needs to be seen in relation to artistic expressions. By having equal representation reserved for the local participants in each of these workshops we hope to understand the problematic of representing the issues that exists in these regional areas.
# Why do you think the topic of region, gender and sexualities is relevant for the workshop in Kerala?
Of course these thematic are important for any place. But at the same time, we hope such initiatives may strengthen the debates around these thematic in the Kerala public sphere. These observations we are making considering the fact that there are already a lot of debates are taking place in Kerala regarding these issues. For instance, the recent controversy over the repeated attack on a dalit women auto-rickshaw driver Chitralekha by the Left trade union (male) workers, and the subsequent debates about the nature of mainstream feminism and dalit feminist’s critique on them and discussions around the newer modes of patriarchal structures and their moral policing etc. illustrate these.
However, from the experience we have gathered from Baroda workshop these are areas that needed urgent focus in a general and broader level too. Region as a focus is possibly going to remain in the two more events; in Jammu as well in North East. Another topic of significance is with regard to Art Historical discipline and museum curation, curating popular culture, which hopefully we would be able to address in the Hyderabad event. There are also thematic like curation and new media art and photography, which would also be addressed in subsequent events. It is also closely linked to developing the curriculum through these series of intellectual engagement. By giving a special (but broader) thematic to each workshop would enable us to identify specific areas, which need unique attention in the academic curriculum.
# How have the galleries which are promoting the present mode of curations react to your project.
Apart from a few gallery owners showed interest in attending some of the open sessions which we have welcomed, there are no specific reactions from any of these quarters regarding the workshops. However, we hope to have certain inputs from them, which was the reason why we had invited Arshia Lokhandwala as a Resource Person in the Baroda workshop.
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