Opinion Express View: Vivan Sundaram, the political artist

Vivan Sundaram, who died in Delhi on Wednesday, was a seminal cultural figure, who saw his art as an extension of his political commitment and vice versa. Sundaram, 79, studied art at MS University, Baroda and Slade School of Art, London in the 1960s and returned to work in India in the 1970s. The ’70s was a decade of change, which also forced artists to look beyond the post-Independence preoccupation with indigeneity and engage with a new and contemporary dialectics. Art was forced to become visibly political as a strong State resisted the surge for change from below by wielding the oppressive instrument of Emergency. Sundaram played a seminal role in bridging the gap between art and politics. The artist, as he saw her, was a socially engaged individual and the art a reflection of the altered reality.

Sundaram’s Emergency drawings are representative of his art of the 1970s. In the 1990s, he created the installation, Memorial, in response to the communal riots in Mumbai. He introduced a new contemporary language in his works while framing social issues. His involvement with political causes, support for radical art movements and engagement with artists across generations helped in crafting and sharpening his art practice. His association with the Journal of Arts & Ideas and SAHMAT or the backing for the Kochi Muziris Biennale were propelled by the ambition to shape a secular public space and discourse in a polarising time. From lectures to residencies, Sundaram was generous with his time for younger artists. The seminal painter Amrita Sher-Gil, his aunt, who died young, was an inspiration for Sundaram.

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Sundaram sought a balance between the gallery and street, theory and praxis, thought and work. In the process, he influenced art, both in its discourse and practice.