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Journalism of Courage
WHILE most people spend the evening trying to find parking space for their Lancers and Benzes at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai, he prefers to walk to the art opening. His half-empty cloth bag bangs softly against his side. His lanky arms dangle and swoosh, propelling him forward, with his long legs that begin in chappals and end in a pair of shorts.
It looks like he8217;s been wearing them for weeks on end. Looks like he lives in a land far away, where people have foregone the need to preen and strut in front of mirrors.
Ed, 38, likes to stand in front of art works instead. He8217;s what they call a culture junkie. Contemplating art for hours, he strokes his black hermit beard peppered with strands of white. 8216;8216;This is where the artist really began to have a dialogue with the work. Look at these lines8230; so unconscious.8217;8217;
You find yourself agreeing. In fact, you find yourself talking all evening about this artist and that work while sipping on Chantilly as if time has just switched off. Time tends to do that around Ed. Since he lives close by with his folks, and since there8217;s no watch to glance at, you find out more about Ed than you had bargained for.
8216;8216;I don8217;t really have a profession. I don8217;t buy or sell art. I don8217;t make it either8230; I simply like to look,8217;8217; he says.
Ed is not alone. There are others8212;whose eyes flicker open for film festivals. Whose eager ears listen to every word at the National Centre for the Performing Arts and whose hands even jot down questions for later. Slightly rough hands that reach out to shake a memory back into you. 8216;8216;You remember? We met at the National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA?8217;8217;
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Gleaning info from paper listings etc, culture junkies synchronise their evenings around festival previews
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Gleaning venue, date and time from notices, boards or listings in the papers, culture junkies synchronise their evenings around festival dates and previews. 8216;8216;Sometimes it takes care of dinner,8217;8217; smirks Ed. But clearly it8217;s more than just the odd cheese ball or the usual glass of wine that brings people like him here. It8217;s art. Art that has nothing to do with the Bull or the Bear, with who has a Husain in their bathroom or what8217;s the best way to break the clutter of new names in the art market. Art that has only to do with appreciating.
Sixty-seven-year-old Mr Fernandes used to be a journalist. He still carries his old press card around. He misses the buzz of the newsroom, though he took voluntary retirement a long time ago. But he turns up regularly at art clubs and therapy classes, trying to find out how art lets you peep into the deeper recesses of the mind.
He was there at the recent launch of the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai, dozing in a patch of noon sunlight over a cup of coffee.
8216;8216;You see the walk around the hotel was quite tiring, but I saw everything,8217;8217; he beams, glad when lunch finally arrives.
8216;8216;I write. Mostly for myself these days, sometimes they publish my work. I like to read, though. Have a list of any good books on Modern or Classical art?8217;8217; he asks, uncapping an old pen that threatens to spew ink all over the cheesecake. Undaunted, he doesn8217;t leave until he8217;s got a few titles. The trudge back to Borivali, where he lives with his dog, is a long one, but you see him again, pen at the ready for the next art do.
Gulban, 55, has a few tiny paintings displayed at Tea Centre, at Mumbai8217;s Churchgate, and her handmade cards are a favourite at charity occasions. But her claim to fame is that she has attended every MF Husain exhibition in the city, ever since she was 16. 8216;8216;I8217;m a big fan. I have watched him grow and I have several prints,8217;8217; says the lady who lives with her son in Kandivli, a Mumbai suburb. The NGMA is never too far for her, especially if it8217;s a Husain show.
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Clearly, it8217;s more than just the odd cheese ball or the usual glass of wine at a show that draws their kind. It8217;s art
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As she reaches for the mini idlis from under your elbow at the buffet table, you wonder aloud if those paintings that look like Husain8217;s hanging at Tea Centre are hers. 8216;8216;Yes, yes I was inspired by his Mother Teresa series,8217;8217; she replies gleefully.
What does the grand old man of Indian contemporary art feel about this undisguised admiration?
8216;8216;I can8217;t say I recall her work, but as long as people sign their works with their own name and not mine, being inspired is perfectly legitimate,8217;8217; says Husain, who was once inspired himself to become the 8216;8216;Picasso of India8217;8217;.
Most artists and film-makers are unaware of culture junkies, but these faithfuls fill many a vacant auditorium seat. 8216;8216;I may never make film8212;if I do, I don8217;t know who will want to see it. But I just love to watch good parallel cinema,8217;8217; says Gauri, 25, draining her glass of cutting outside Mumbai8217;s YB Chavan Centre.
She lives with her parents on inherited property in Gamdevi central Mumbai. And while she has had a few jobs in the past, right now her main pastime is, what else, to watch.
