Activists may throw soup at the Mona Lisa or mashed potato at Les Meules, and ask if art is more important in the time of climate change, but the truth remains that the two need not be at odds with each other. Indeed, an appreciation of art might make one aware that it is more than an elitist pursuit. Taken out of the museum space, where it can often be intimidating for the uninitiated, it can be liberating; a marketplace, but also with room for new ways of seeing.
Take, for instance, the ongoing India Art Fair (IAF), where Goa-based new media artist Afrah Shafiq has a surprise waiting for her audience. She invites them to play a game — The Bride Who Could Not Stop Crying — that builds on her years of research on children’s books from the erstwhile Soviet Union and their vibrant images of bridal attires and South Asia’s history of dowry deaths. In Shafiq’s game, the wedding day is one of mourning, and how much the bride will cry will depend on the choices the audience makes.
In another booth, a 320 x 1320 cm Ai Weiwei in Woma blocks holds centrestage, a rare opportunity to see the dissident Chinese artist’s work up close. A third has a set of works by Gulammohammed Sheikh on the politics of language. In between, there are art tours for children and interactions with buyers. It is a world of expansive imagination, both evocative and provocative.
Every two years, the Kochi biennale draws in the city as a participant, converting streets and warehouses into venues to showcase a range of art. The IAF is more niche, with its emphasis on business, but its basic tenet is similar: At its core, art is democratic and one need not be a buyer or a connoisseur to appreciate it. It is simply enough to be curious.
