Galleries have played a major role in creating and sustaining an art ecosystem that is ever-evolving through various shows and exhibitions, archiving artworks, spreading awareness about art, and providing a platform for creative talent to prosper.
The proliferation of private galleries in the 1990s and early 2000s saw a growth in attention towards archiving in the form of catalogues, curatorial texts and books, which documented the works of artists represented by them. Critical and academic writing provided an insight into the newly emergent market to help understand the practices of modernists, masters and contemporaries. A focus on archiving curated shows and works has served a timeless role in understanding art.
The new millennium has seen a rise of interest in Indian art globally. Galleries have played a major role by publishing monologues of artists such as SH Raza, Ram Kumar, Anjolie Ela Menon and A Ramachandran among others that helped in understanding their practices. These publications continue to be valuable resources for the present and upcoming generations. For instance, to know and understand Raja Ravi Varma's practice, Rupika Chawla's Raja Ravi Varma: Painter of Colonial India is an important tool.
Scholars like Partha Mitter, Geeta Kapur, Parul Dave Mukherji, Yashodhara Dalmia, Tapati Guha-Thakurta and Gayatri Sinha have researched and written extensively on Indian art, contributing to the critical discourse through well-researched books and journals. Some landmark publications include Many Maligned Monsters, When was Modernism and 20th Century Indian Art.
Not only do books independently contribute to the understanding of art but the growth in their role is determined by the fact that festivals, fairs, biennales, triennales etc., now have dedicated programmes for book launches in their calendar.
Publications on art have broadened the horizons of critical writing. In the internet age, this has been furthered by the presence of blogs and independent online platforms like the Critical Collective, which have nurtured knowledge-building mechanisms. The presence of traditional archives and crucial publications is imperative to the growth and evolution of Indian art.
(Sunaina Anand is Founder and Director, Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi. She can be reached at sunaina@artalivegallery.com.)