Work in Progress

Incidentally,the director at the Haus der Kunst,Munich since 2003,has an old association with Indian art. In 2006,at Tate Modern,he had curated the exhibition Amrita Sher-Gil: An Indian Artist Family of the Twentieth Century,and in Munich,he has organised a show of India-born,UK-based artist Anish Kapoor titled Svayambh (2007). “Indian art is getting attention world over,but it is important to look at the past — it will provide the blueprint of the ‘rotten comprises’ and difficulties in negotiations being faced today,” says Dercon,52.

While the commercialisation in art initially kept the Belgian away from mainstream art,after a brief stint of working as a freelancer for art and culture in Belgian Radio and Television and a documentary film-maker,Dercon moved to New York in 1988 to work as the programme director in PS1 Contemporary Art Center. “I was encouraged to do experimental exhibitions there,” he recalls.

At Haus der Kunst too,he follows this pursuit. If in 2004 he opened the museum’s archive to researchers,he also invited contemporary artists to respond to the architecture of the gallery that was built during the Nazi rule. In 2005 he had Paul McCarthy adorning the roof of the museum with large bouquets of fake flowers,and last year Chinese artist Ai Weiwei created the site-specific work Remembering 2009 ,with 9,000 backpacks on the building’s facade. “The building has a sad history of being built by a dictator,” states Dercon,who also made changes in its architecture.

Taking over from Vicente Todoli,who has been the director at Tate Modern for seven years,Dercon is looking forward to the challenge. “I am in this transitional phase right now,” says Dercon,who studied art history,theatre studies and film theory at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden and Vrije Universiteit,Amsterdam. The new committee — the process of which is already underway — will be an addition to the gallery’s already existing set of “four to five committees”,which includes the Latin American Acquisitions Committee,Middle Eastern Acquisitions Committee and South East Asia Acquisitions Committee. “Traditionally a committee comprises donors,industrialists and collectors. Till now the South East Asian Committee was responsible for looking at Indian art,but we felt that a lot was happening in the country and a focussed approach was essential. Moreover,there are a lot of expectations from the Non- Residents Indians (NRIs) living in London and

Europe,” says Dercon,pointing out that the gallery collection already comprise works of Indian artists,including Bhupen Khakhar and FN Souza.

While some people in London have already shown interest for being part of the committee,he hopes to rope in some others while in India. “It is a packed trip,including a visit to Gujarat,but I hope to fit in as much as I can,” states Dercon. He has a suggestion for Indian gallerists and curators: “I am tired of the group shows of Indian art; it is important to focus on individual artists,doing interesting work.”