Little Big Thing

Looking for a perfectly good example? Take artist Arpana Caur8217;s indulgent catalogue for her December 2003 show on Guru Nanak. She even put in photographs of mud with cartographic lines all over them, with Guru Nanak, Peer Nanak, and Lama Nanak in different calligraphic styles to wow the viewer and venerate the saint.

Designed by her husband Harinder Singh, it had text by Khushwant Singh and translations of Nanak8217;s writing. The catalogue, which cost around Rs 2 lakh to produce, is into its third reprint now.

8216;8216;An exhibition doesn8217;t go everywhere but a catalogue does. What will stay with people forever is a catalogue, not a painting. So why not do it beautifully,8217;8217; says Caur.

Quite a shift for an artist who didn8217;t do catalogues at the beginning of her career. Then, there is Paresh Maity8217;s catalogue of his recent oils titled Shapes in Symphony, pretty flamboyant for a catalogue but definitely not overboard.

Maity8217;s justification of the extra effort and money that goes into a catalogue is this: 8216;8216;If we have better technology, better paper quality, then why not use it to our advantage?8217;8217;

Rashmi Kaleka, the brain behind many eye-catching catalogues including one for Manjit Bawa8217;s works, agrees that the definition of a catalogue has expanded. 8216;8216;There8217;s an increased demand for stylised catalogues as opposed to simpler ones printed earlier. It is linked to the fact that Indian art is luring many NRIs and the catalogues printed in the west are classy.8217;8217;

And like paintings, catalogues too have their own following, one that is no longer confined to artists, gallerists and buyers. Citing an interesting anecdote, Ina Puri, writer and Manjit Bawa8217;s confidante, says, 8216;8216;I recently went to Kolkata-based industrialists Ina and Anu Burman8217;s house and saw an entire wall filled with the prints of Bawa8217;s works. She had cut out the images from his catalogues and made a collage with it.8217;8217; Plus, a few designers and gallerists are also rendering catalogues in an extended-book format. Delhi Art Gallery owner Ashish Anand released an around 200-page catalogue last year for his show Manifestations: Indian Art in the 20th Century. The catalogue, which cost around Rs 10 lakh for 2,000 copies, is a collector8217;s delight, with crisp pieces written by eminent critics on each artist in the show.

8216;8216;While people have begun buying catalogues, you still can8217;t make money or even recover the amount invested in it, 8217;8217; says Anand, who informs that the trend of classy catalogues started with Mumbai auction house Osian8217;s. Says Neville Tuli, director, Osian8217;s, 8220;A good finished product is a document for history.8221;

While Mumbai might have taken the lead, the capital, says Geeta Mehra of the Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, isn8217;t far behind. 8216;8216;But since there are fewer galleries and fewer art openings in Delhi, one isn8217;t deluged with catalogues. But Mumbai doesn8217;t have designers in the league of a Rashmi Kaleka,8217;8217; she says. A few names doing well on the Mumbai circuit are Preeti Vyas and Bina Eillas Sarkar, though they strictly cannot be termed catalogue designers.

Delhi also seems to have a knack of generating people who8217;re more committed to catalogue designing. Like Parthiv Shah, son of artist Haku Shah, who is also a film-maker and a photographer. Last year, Shah did the catalogue for his father8217;s show Haman Hai Ishq. No fancy shapes or gimmicks for Parthiv, the design was simple with a sprinkling of attractive elements. The cover of Haman Hai Ishq was in plain red. Then, in small letters, he had written 8216;Love is all there is8217; on it. 8216;8216;For the Sahmat show, Gift For India, artists from across the countries sent 3/3-inch cubes. They came in interesting packings and stamps. As they were being opened, I photographed them which made a way to the catalogue,8217;8217; says Parthiv.