Monday, May 14, 2007 (Baroda)
The attack by BJP activists on the Fine Arts Faculty of Baroda's MS University is part of a growing evidence that the institute is being sucked into the communally charged climate of Narendra Modi's Gujarat.
Until not long ago, the faculty and the world famous artists it produced seemed like a self-contained liberal and cosmopolitan universe. Their lives and their work intertwined with the life of Baroda.
''I always thought that Gujarat is a civilised place and they let people be even if they differ 'from them. At least that is the Gujarat I knew when I came in the 1950s to teach in the institution,'' said KG Subramanyam, Founding Faculty, Fine Arts, MS University.
Generations of artists in India have looked at KG Subramanyam with both awe and regard as one of the founding teachers of an arts school that challenged and subverted long prevailing dogmas in Indian art.
Producing work that drew on tradition but was contemporary and cutting edge reflected in the works of internationally acclaimed artists like Bhupen Khakkar, Vivian Sundaram and many others.
Great irony
But now, 50 illustrious years later, Subramanyam looks on as the faculty he established is challenged by dogma of another kind.
The great irony is that such attacks draw legitimacy by claiming art as elitist and culturally delinked. But as old timers say the faculty of fine arts was from the very beginning linked to the organic life of Baroda.
Indrapramit Roy was a Calcutta boy when he came here to study. But like many others he ended up staying on as a teacher.
Among the many things he picked up was Garba, Gujarat's traditional dance.
''Everyone was encouraged to dance. That was the attempt that art should be related not only to environment but also to cultural context in which it belongs,'' said Prof Indrapramit Roy, Faculty, Fine Arts.
But as the context began to change in Gujarat, artists could hardly remain insulated.
Communal riots
As riots engulfed the city in 2002, Ghulam Mohd Shaikh, among the most senior and respected artists in the city, received threatening calls and was forced to leave Baroda for several months.
Artist BV Suresh said that the attack on the faculty does not surprise him. He sees it as part of the ongoing legacy of post Godhra Gujarat.
A legacy he tried to grapple with through an installation that showed a burnt bread. It was a direct and pointed comment on the burning of the Best Bakery in riot-scarred Baroda.
''We are questioned by people who live in our building. Doodhala, sabziwla they ask us what's happening. We need to tell our side of the story. So important to have posters in Gujarati,'' said a citizen.
And yet the disturbing reality remains that as people from across the country descend on Baroda in support of the students, within the city one man is gaining stature.
Niraj Jain, till some time ago, was just another advocate and member of the VHP. He tried contesting a municipal election on a BJP ticket but lost.
''We have got 30 SMSes from Mumbai. People have sent 7,000 emails in support. Three mails are from London. Not just BJP, even the Congress leaders are calling,'' he said.
Today he knows he has hit a jackpot.
Until not long ago, the faculty and the world famous artists it produced seemed like a self-contained liberal and cosmopolitan universe. Their lives and their work intertwined with the life of Baroda.
''I always thought that Gujarat is a civilised place and they let people be even if they differ 'from them. At least that is the Gujarat I knew when I came in the 1950s to teach in the institution,'' said KG Subramanyam, Founding Faculty, Fine Arts, MS University.
Generations of artists in India have looked at KG Subramanyam with both awe and regard as one of the founding teachers of an arts school that challenged and subverted long prevailing dogmas in Indian art.
Producing work that drew on tradition but was contemporary and cutting edge reflected in the works of internationally acclaimed artists like Bhupen Khakkar, Vivian Sundaram and many others.
Great irony
But now, 50 illustrious years later, Subramanyam looks on as the faculty he established is challenged by dogma of another kind.
The great irony is that such attacks draw legitimacy by claiming art as elitist and culturally delinked. But as old timers say the faculty of fine arts was from the very beginning linked to the organic life of Baroda.
Indrapramit Roy was a Calcutta boy when he came here to study. But like many others he ended up staying on as a teacher.
Among the many things he picked up was Garba, Gujarat's traditional dance.
''Everyone was encouraged to dance. That was the attempt that art should be related not only to environment but also to cultural context in which it belongs,'' said Prof Indrapramit Roy, Faculty, Fine Arts.
But as the context began to change in Gujarat, artists could hardly remain insulated.
Communal riots
As riots engulfed the city in 2002, Ghulam Mohd Shaikh, among the most senior and respected artists in the city, received threatening calls and was forced to leave Baroda for several months.
Artist BV Suresh said that the attack on the faculty does not surprise him. He sees it as part of the ongoing legacy of post Godhra Gujarat.
A legacy he tried to grapple with through an installation that showed a burnt bread. It was a direct and pointed comment on the burning of the Best Bakery in riot-scarred Baroda.
''We are questioned by people who live in our building. Doodhala, sabziwla they ask us what's happening. We need to tell our side of the story. So important to have posters in Gujarati,'' said a citizen.
And yet the disturbing reality remains that as people from across the country descend on Baroda in support of the students, within the city one man is gaining stature.
Niraj Jain, till some time ago, was just another advocate and member of the VHP. He tried contesting a municipal election on a BJP ticket but lost.
''We have got 30 SMSes from Mumbai. People have sent 7,000 emails in support. Three mails are from London. Not just BJP, even the Congress leaders are calling,'' he said.
Today he knows he has hit a jackpot.
1 comment:
Modern Indian Art is the manifestation of various streams of consciousness of a country. The whole process of both negation and assimilation of modernity and tradition on the backdrop of folk, tribal rural and urban art forms materialize the vast panorama of Modern Indian Art.
Kovalezhi Cheerampathoor Sankaran Paniker is one of the most important painters who evolved a radical pictorial language in 20th century Indian painting.
http://www.kcspaniker.com/
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