CHENNAI: Dreams are age-bound and childhood claims the most colourful of them all. What is the universe in a child’s imagination but one vast expanse of land and water, fields and hills and lots of human beings, animals and birds? Flights of fancy across mighty oceans, majestic mountains and even the night sky to catch the moon are all possible. Passports and visas are non-existent. If only adults could dream thus — of a world not defined by boundaries and flags.
Art, it is said, has no borders. Artists respond with equal passion to a crisis anywhere in the world. The mind of an artist can never anchor prejudices; instead, art is a tool to heal those biases. With all that said, this very unbiased art needs platforms to exhibit and often, sadly, falls victim to the same boundaries it tried to erase in its quest for the oneness of humanity. The cross-border movement of art and artists is a nightmare indeed. If the countries involved have hostile political relations, then one may as well forget the idea.
India and Pakistan are fine examples. With deteriorating relations, the exchange of artists and artworks across borders has become nothing short of a logistical hell. Despite innumerable hurdles, there was a fair amount of contemporary art trade happening between the countries earlier. In recent times though, efforts to showcase Pakistani artists in India and vice versa have become less feasible. Visa applications are cumbersome processes and are most often denied. Shipping the works is a hugely difficult exercise. Most galleries in India that plan shows with Pakistani artists are advised to cancel them. This edition of the Kochi Biennale had no Pakistani artists. The visa restrictions and the strict rules that follow in case a visa is miraculously granted by any luck would deter any artist and the organiser as well.
This isn’t so with only India and Pakistan, but with every cultural exchange that happens between countries whose borders reek of tensions. Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei, one of the most famous contemporary artists living today, whose strong works that exposed human rights violations in his country made him an enemy of the Chinese government, was denied a six-month visa to the UK on the grounds of a flimsy misinterpretation of definitions in the visa application form.
Similarly, an award-winning Iranian illustrator was refused entry into the UK to attend an event. No matter what fair world an artwork envisions, there certainly seems to be a lot of unfairness thriving on territorial fences. Cross-border collaborations can happen only in neutral territories. As far as India and Pakistan are concerned, Dubai serves as a conduit and many Pakistani artworks reach Indian collectors through Dubai. International art fairs like Art Dubai are the only venues where galleries can showcase works of countries with strained relations under one roof.
In the deeply polarised society that we live in today, cross-cultural exchanges are extremely important to combat all the hate rhetoric that we are subjected to every day. It is time to remove those barbed wires and allow art to build bridges of understanding.