CHENNAI: Artist, printmaker and teacher V Nagdas who is famous for his narrated paintings has put his paint brush to rest since two months. These days, as the chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, he has donned the hat of a leader who is worried about the problems that the artists of our country face. While meeting with the members and artists at Lalit Kala Akademi, Chennai, he talks to CE about his works, challenges of the artists community and vision. “The Lalit Kala Akademi in Chennai is the only one centre for the entire south India, so it is important to be here. I also visited Cholamandal Artists Village and met senior artists. They also gave some advice and suggestions. I have to also implement those,” he says.
Artists first
After getting his degree in 1984 in Graphic Art from Kalabhavan, Viswabharati University, the artist had been working at the Department of Graphics, Indira Kala Sangeet Vishwavidyalaya, Khairagarh, Chhattisgarh, for almost 37 years. Rather than having a quiet retirement period, he chose to grab the opportunity of managing Lalit Kala Akademi and work towards improving the lives of artists. He shares, “This is a three-year term. It is an honorarium post assigned by the President of India. I got a chance to do something for the artist community. I have introduced many new centres — Ahmedabad, Shimla, Patna, Dharwad (not finalised but in the pipeline).”
Within two months of taking charge, Nagdas has conducted around eight workshops in different parts of the country. He aspires to conduct the Art Triennial of Art in 2025 Pragati Maidan Tunnel, New Delhi, by inviting 120 countries. The mega programme has been on hold for the last 15 years. Print Biennale in Kolkata from October to 2023 is also in the cards.
Managing challenges
Speaking about the challenges faced by artists today, he says, “Technology has dominated all art fields. Most of the budding artists are playing with technology not with brushes and canvases. They often forget the art with other mediums and the research and studies about that. Masters don’t follow this technology because of the generation gap and thus, there will be a clash. Both, students and teachers, need to have conversations and exchange of ideas. We also need more infrastructure and scholarships for the student artists to facilitate studios and galleries,” adding that every form of art should be taken into consideration and should be given prominence.
To highlight folk art, Nagdas aims to bring in tribal and contemporary artists to the centre. “They can interact and share their ideas and we can see how the change in ideologies in the modern context will happen,” he says.
Nagdas is of the belief that even when artists are not working, they have to meet up regularly for interaction and community building. “If you go to western countries or study history, most of the artists meet often at tea shops, pubs and discuss art. I didn’t find that in Chennai. Tamil Nadu has got many talented artists. Since it is a city of temples, we also can highlight temple art. In the modern context we can create a lot of things. For that, artists should collaborate. Also, here the artists are a little hesitant to go to North India. That mentality has to change,” he says.
Nagdas concludes by sharing images of his large canvas 18-foot paintings, through which he throws light on the crises around the world. “We are not safe at all. If you go out, there is no guarantee that you will come back or not. I try to portray these through my paintings so that they will directly speak to you,” he says, adding that his sole mission is to continue working for the artist community through his works and getting recognition for the work of other artists.