Gallery Go-Round

No glitterati gatherings at inaugurations, no wine-and-cheese page three dos, no moolah mantra for the month. Instead, there8217;s a conver...

No glitterati gatherings at inaugurations, no wine-and-cheese page three dos, no moolah mantra for the month. Instead, there8217;s a convergence of artists of various disciplines, lively discussions, and an unstinted sharing of art. Sounds idealistic? Perhaps, but these irregular galleries are also a reality. Check out the gallery at the Department of Arts and Aesthetics at JNU, or the Dakini Art Cafe at Hauz Khas, in New Delhi. Or, for that matter, a Chowpatty night club on an evening when Gay Bombay takes it over. These are 8216;8216;test sites for ideas that can8217;t be put to practice anywhere else,8217;8217; says Shukla Sawant, associate professor of visual arts at JNU, of the university gallery that had its first show 8212; an exhibition of Dayanita Singh8217;s photographs 8212; in January this year. There are plans to stage non-proscenium theatre here as well. 8216;8216;The purpose is to encourage students from various streams to have interactive sessions with artists. And to look at art which is not visible in traditional galleries,8217;8217; says Sawant. A traditional gallery is exactly what the Dakini Art Cafe is not. Well aware of what it takes for an upcoming artist to showcase his works, graphic artist Nirupama started the art cafe with the idea of displaying all forms of art. Its first show featured collector Bobby Kohli8217;s collection of Shiva paintings by unknown artists, and it has since displayed clothes by upcoming designer Satish Tyagi, photographs by mass communication student Vandana Sood, and jewellery by Asim.

8216;8216;We8217;re open to all forms of art 8212; music, puppetry, oleographs, posters, anything,8217;8217; says Nirupama. The rent is a reasonable Rs 2,500 per month, and exhibitors get their own key to the premises, to come and go as they like. Money obviously isn8217;t top of mind for Arjun Kochhar either. 8216;8216;When art becomes too commercial, it loses its spirit. And once it loses its spirit, it ceases to be art,8217;8217; says this graduate of Wharton Business School. 8216;8216;While in the US, I lived in Williamsburg, an artists8217; colony where artists painted for themselves and sang for their own pleasure, not for buyers.8217;8217;

Emulating that spirit, Kochhar refused to charge artists whose works he displayed at a series of parties he organised at various five-star discotheques. The idea was to listen to music, sip a drink or two and view the displayed works at leisure. Next on the agenda: similar parties at subways, restaurants and pubs.

The idea is already a hit in Mumbai. Gay Bombay, for instance, had regulars doing a double take when it screened Nishit Saran8217;s film Summer in my Veins at a top-notch night club in Chowpatty to commemorate the gay film-maker8217;s first death anniversary. After the screening 8212; attended by the likes of Riyad Wadia, who escorted his mother 8212; went off without a hitch, GB is planning more such shows. 8216;8216;It is important for the gay community to have unconventional spaces, since they are still nervous about being seen in public spaces,8217;8217; says Vikram, a member.

Artists, on their part, may not be particularly nervous about showing anywhere, but the venue certainly makes a difference. On the whole, though, there is a certain openness about unconventional showcases. Says Dayanita Singh of the JNU gallery, 8216;8216;While my show was on there, I overheard a student working on her doctorate on the Sikh identity lecturing a fellow student on my images. In the US, some of the best galleries are located in the universities 8212; it8217;s the one way of reaching out to an audience who wouldn8217;t see your works as an art object.8217;8217;

While sales aren8217;t part of the profile of the JNU gallery, most of the other enterprises make enough to stay afloat. 8216;8216;I manage to break even every month,8217;8217; says Nirupama.

Zara hatke from even these spaces is the Lokayuta in Hauz Khas village. The gallery was once home to celebrated author Mulk Raj Anand, and even featured on Siddhartha Basu8217;s Quiz Time. At present, under the care of the author8217;s adopted son Kewal, the place has evolved into a 8216;drive-in8217; gallery. 8216;8216;It8217;s circular in shape, one can come in one8217;s car, see the exhibits and drive out, without even getting down from the car,8217;8217; says Kewal.

Are the 8216;new8217; galleries, then, about art itself turning full circle 8212; from structured showcases to free-flowing forums? The cognoscenti8217;s still out on that one.

With Georgina L Maddox in Mumbai