Walk Mumbai’s power corridors and sample art

Courtesy the unusual proposal submitted by the Directorate of Arts to the state Higher and Technical Education Department. The proposal to permit the sale of paintings at Mantralaya is still under scrutiny but the art is on display, complete with price tags.

When permission does come through, the directorate wants to put up a notice on the corridor, with names, addresses and contact numbers of authorities in case a Mantralaya visitor wants to go home with a painting.

So, emerging from five years of unclaimed storage at the directorate, 20 oil and acrylic paintings priced between Rs 9,000 and 25,000 hang everywhere, from the secretaries’ offices to visiting rooms and the wood panelled walls — portraits, abstracts, an enigmatic Maharashtrian woman, drought, nationalism, Mahatma Gandhi. For display and potential sale.

The artists — some former students of the JJ School of Arts — have been tracked down to addresses scattered from Mumbai to rural Shirur, for permission to display and sell their work.

‘‘The artists have been told to reply within seven days or collect their paintings from us,’’ said officials.

‘‘If the artists are okay, 50 per cent of the sale proceeds will go to them and the rest to the Directorate of Arts,’’ said senior officials at the directorate.

Secretary of Higher and Technical Education Chandra Iyengar confirmed that ‘‘a written proposal from the directorate to display and sell professional art had been submitted to the department and that a decision would be taken soon’’.