Noted art curator Alka Pande was in Kochi to inaugurate Mumbai-based artist Tina Chandroji’s exhibition at the Chaitanya Art Gallery. Known for her support to artistes and photographers, Alka says, “India still has a long way to go to produce impressive artists.” One reason for that is that the country does not place any emphasis on art.
“We need to give more visibility to art,” she says. “People admire paintings and enjoy the work of artistes, but still they do not inculcate its importance to their children. The only way to make art popular is to make it compulsory in schools.”
She says that India needs to learn from countries like the United States and Europe, where children are taken for art exhibitions as field trips. Also, families take their children to enjoy art and culture in museums.
Alka says that at a time when installations are becoming quite the rage, paintings will always remain the basic platform for creativity. “Paintings depict an artist’s eye for detail and is timeless,” says Alka, a Consultant Arts Advisor and Curator of the Visual Arts Gallery,India Habitat Centre, at New Delhi.
Inspite of the public interest shifting to three-dimensional art such as sculptors and installations, two-dimensional art (paintings) will always adorn homes and business institutions.
“In western countries, where everything has become digital, an artist who paints has become very valuable,” says Alka. “In India art has become extremely commercialised. Art is not being understood properly, either by critics or the media. It is regarded as a business.”
Speaking about the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which is a platform for contemporary and traditional art work, Alka says, “The works showcased are impressive. However, there is a lot of confusion prevailing at the venues which needs to be worked out.”