Connoisseur8217;s Choice

Without it bad works will be picked up while good ones will have no takers. Here the blame lies on the buyer, they don8217;t have taste. In India we have collectors and not connoisseurs. What we need is connoisseurs 8212; people who can understand art. A connoisseur is one who loves art and then buys it. You just don8217;t buy a piece by looking at it. You spend time with the artist, know his background, his past work. If a connoisseur is a part of a corporate house, then the exhibition makes sense.

There has to be a professional approach toward art. For instance, there8217;s no sensein Jehangir being an exhibiting ground for 1,000 artists. It has to be selective, as we lack gallery space. Internationally-curated exhibitions last for up to three months 8212; an exhibition for a week or so makes no sense. Galleries can charge a Rs 5 entrance fee, which will in a way cover their costs also. It will also streamline the kind of crowd that comes in. In summer, people come in to air-conditioned galleries only to cool off. That is no way to see art.

But nothing is serious any more. We have an excellent past but we lack a present. We lack contemporary art because of our past. Artists are responsible for that. They cannot fool around with art. Picasso had done over 1,000 works but each canvas made a statement. Here one cannot find that. Again, I blame collectors here. They insist that the artist do a particular kind of work. And they can get away with it. You need at least Rs five lakh just to put up a show. In the West a good catalogue stating the history of the artist alone costs Rs 10 lakh. Herewe get leaflets or three-page catalogues made for Rs 60,000. What happens? People barely glance at it.

Here corporate houses can pitch in. They can reduce the number of artists they sponsor and release high-quality catalogues for their exhibits. For example, a show like Harmony 8212; organised by Tina Ambani 8212; 15 or 20 artists could be invited to do five works. Then one can see the artist8217;s actual talent.

But things are getting better. RPG8217;s show Flashback Flash Forward8216; is much better than the earlier shows. Previously there were too many artists and even the selection was not up to the mark. The present show has a better look, revealing a better historical awareness. The same goes for Harmony, where the present collection has roped in good names.

But that is not enough. It8217;s time we started an international residency programme in Mumbai, like the Sanskriti Kendra in Delhi, to provide everything from studio facilities and materials to international exposure. We have to promote qualitative work.