Path Breakers

Art's heartThe country's first wholly indigenous auction of Contemporary Indian Art accomplished all that its curator Neville Tuli promised ...

Art8217;s heart

The country8217;s first wholly indigenous auction of Contemporary Indian Art accomplished all that its curator Neville Tuli promised it would. For instance, the auction sold India8217;s most expensive painting ever 8212; Raja Ravi Verma8217;s The Begum8217;s Bath went for a whopping Rs 32 lakh. Conducted by HEART The Tuli Foundation for Holistic Education amp; Art on November 15, at the Nehru Centre, there were over 200 bidders and the auction raked in Rs 2.5 crore, in cheque.

Achievement awards

The Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowships and Awards for 1996 were announced in Mumbai on December 26, 1997. After a three-year hiatus 8212; the Padmabhushan and Padmashree have been on hold the art world finally got its due. These awards included Classical music and dance, contemporary theatre and the entire gamut of Indian folk and traditional idioms. This year, 27 musicians, dancers and theatre people were honoured. The fellowships were restricted to 30 living artistes 8212; Gangubhai Hangal, Ammannur Madhava Chakyar and Habib Tanvir, shared the glory.

Freedom to be

The world8217;s largest democracy celebrated 50 years of its independence. The NCPA, under the banner of Ardhakatha, arranged a series of programmes based of the theme of freedom. NCPA premiered an eight-part series of heritage films, produced by MARG Publications. Collectively titled, Purva Uttara, the films were shown in April, 1997. Over the Independence weekend 8212; August 15 8212; the NCPA had a performance by Pt Hariprasad Chaurasia and Pt Shivkumar Sharma accompanied by Zakir Hussain and sitar maestro Ravi Shanker , were also part of the celebrations. October 1997, saw the Swarna Samaroh, held in collaboration with the Sangeet Natak Akademi and the Department of Culture, Government of India. The festival started in Delhi and came to Mumbai via Chennai and Calcutta 8212; 150 artistes and 1,000 accompanists performed.

Present perfect

The National Gallery of Modern Art NGMA in its very first year, played host to six major exhibitions, besides conducting various gallery talks and seminars by some leading luminaries of the art world. Most notable were the Progressive Art Group exhibition, Japanese art collector Masanori Sukuoka8217;s exhibition and 50 Years of Art in Mumbai, curated by Dr Saryu Doshi, the honourary director of NGMA.

Theatre fest

The big bang for the theatre fraternity this year was definitely the Prithvi Festival held in early November. The festival had 26 groups from all over the country and the 30 shows were spread over three venues 8212; Prithvi, NCPA and St Andrews. Besides getting the best of Indian theatre to the city, the festival threw up certain interesting trends. Six of the 26 plays were based on interpretations of the Mahabharata, 10 of the plays were directed by women and five pieces were monologues.

The last word

Though there has been much to feast upon for art lovers this year, our columnist Anju Makhija has an interesting thought: quot;After a year of high-profile plays, readings, music festivals, art events, it8217;s the sound of the mandolin, played by some unknown musician below my window that has helped me appreciate the true value of art. Culture, especially a living8217; one, depicted by an artist using the road as a canvas, or a flute player on the local train, in the year to come may become the very basis of our survival. Mega events have their place in structured surroundings, but in this 50th year of Independence, little has been done to keep a living8217; culture alive. Come 1998 and let8217;s applaud street singers and other artists who do it for the joy of it. Let8217;s toast the art flourishing in unexpected quarters.quot;