VIEWER, WHO?

Can we imagine an art gallery without art objects in it? (unless the gallery is under maintenance)

If the answer is ‘no’ then is it true that we (the art community) assume the viewer’s presence too?

noun: viewer vyoo-u(r)
A close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind)

The current art-world has diametrically different practices all surviving in the same time frame, and the viewer’s position and the role has been tossed and ignored significantly leading to a gulf between high art and the viewer’s comprehension of it. Let’s examine the subject with different observed instances. Perhaps the discussion should be taken with a pinch of salt considering the hypothesis of normative statements.

A three-part engagement is a general composition of the art world, today formed by the creator, the viewer and the third set of individuals and institutes that keep the enterprise afloat.

A brief study of the timeline of art history allows us an understanding that the museums and art galleries emerged as alternative spaces to house art permanently and temporarily. The purpose they serve is to conserve, promote and support heritage as well as current art practices in both public and private domains. Considering the diverse human occupations, the variety in creative objects range from the crafts, scientific advancements, tangible-intangible cultural records, loosely termed art objects etc. The type of objects being housed institutionally is defined by the interests of the persons and people forming the collection. This idea spontaneously widens the scope for the viewership that a member of society could be interested in. Hence, we’ll limit the range of our perusal to visual arts and its dissemination avenues. Viewership could be understood through a model of a cube or a polygon (like cubism) where many planes exist simultaneously and adjacent to each other but are never to be seen together in the same glance. Emotional, cerebral, cultural, economic, social, political, geographic elements direct the viewer’s perception (appreciation, inhibition, or access). 

Artists (creators) hope and expect an overwhelming response to their display of works, despite the genre they could be classified into; and it stands justified. The current art-world around us in India is an eclectic (or a derivative) mix of traditional art forms, academia, classical forms, modernism, ultra-modern, conceptualism and contemporary so on so forth as informed by the communication sources throughout the globe. Perhaps the dynamics of art-making itself are so complicated and layered in the present times that in order to identify or associate certain values to each genre is a mighty task. The task is partially borne by a set of viewers who specialise in classifying the value system broadly listed as art historians, art critics, art writers and the trending curator. They, in turn, present us the(ir) world view or micro-view and the rest of the world in most cases accept them and also often validate the propositions. These individuals or set of viewers’ can be further collectively termed as non-art practising authorial viewers. Perhaps our discussion right now too is in-line to the aforesaid authority of thinkers where ‘you’ the reader is placed on the receiving end of the table.

The hierarchy is naturally established further through the agency of the viewers with an interest in the role of the caretakers or the custodians of art objects in the public domain and authority and ownership of a collection in the private domain. In both domains, access to art objects is closely monitored to safeguard the asset and its life. For e.g., on one hand, the most valuable objects like Mona Lisa or La Gioconda in a museum is either in safe vaults or in public display with high-security barriers. On the other hand, some of the privately collected art objects of historic importance are rarely or seldom seen in public, rather even declared to exist establishing the exclusivity of the viewership to a select few. In the latter case, the artworks lead a phantom life. The cultural objects taken apart as the raid proceeds in the medieval periods from different lands suffer de-contextualisation e.g. Egyptian mummies in the British museums et cetera et cetera.

However, the same act by an artist establishes a new context to the work or challenges the value system. E.g. the Fountain by Marcel Duchamp, 1917. The pace with which the artists have been playing with the creative and mental frames in the last century coupled with technology and liberty of the media has resulted into a gulf between the comprehensions of art its relevance to the viewers who haven’t graduated with the similar pace. We may even have risked the ability of distinction from the popular and the virtuous, leave alone what defines the later.

It is a separate discourse to factor the disjunction caused between contemporary art and the general regional viewership of India where the former mostly demands the cultural alienation and detached perception. But the onus of engagement with the viewers lays upon the creators and the backing-institutional set up to make the discourse inclusive. Perhaps this leads to the core factors of the viewership viz. disabilities, linguistic diversity, gendered perceptions, faith-based mental makeup, and politically influenced engagement with the arts. A range of Why, What, When, How will be presented the moment we think to take up the aforesaid factors. Especially when people become more sensitive about the factors rather than integrating them while designing art-based gatherings viz. exhibitions, previews, seminars, workshops, performances etc.  

     

It would be irresponsible to assume that artists or the community don’t address or account for these factors et al. However, no formal approach is evident in the larger scenario noting the same.

Let’s us engage by enlisting the qualities and scope of the viewer(s) and find out for ourselves if we had actively or vaguely considered them before planning an art-based event.

• The viewer may be of different age groups viz. children, teens, adults, senior citizens etc

• The language the viewer might be conversant with might not be commonly English but some regional dialect.
• The literacy level or educational background could have a high impact on how and what the viewer interprets.
• The viewer can have gender orientation or difference that could influence the work’s interpretation.
• The socio-cultural backgrounds, the economic class, would possibly define the openness or shy character of the viewer.
• The association of contemporary lingo of the exhibits might be overwhelming for the viewer to access the work mentally as well as physically.
• The viewer could be confined to limited mobility either due to lifestyle or disability and probably making it impossible to reach out to an art venue beyond regular reach.

    i.   The viewer might be used only to looking at illustrations and paintings of academic style defining the scope for further or diverse art appreciation.

   ii.    The viewer might or might not have affinity or understanding of the skill or artisanship and may look at the art objects with amazement only toward the digital avenues that require lesser efforts by the viewer for comprehension.

 iii.     The viewer might be convinced of certain ideologies and may reject art forms based on other ideologies viz. 1. an abstraction lover might never prefer to engage with narrative styles. 2. Faith may determine their acceptance to any new imagery other than prescribed by the faith. 

 iv.     The economic condition(s) might either over-expose to a type of art objects and styles or underexpose them to the possibilities of particular art forms. 

This enlisting for the qualities or abilities of the viewer can be exhaustive. However, the art fraternity could have counter thoughts which could be equally debatable and worthy of consideration for curatorial designing of art events.

• The artwork is self-expression and doesn’t’ need to be interpreted in any way.
• The artworks are conceptual works and require only intelligent viewers.
• The resources necessary to cater to diverse types of viewers are insufficient or unavailable etc. 
• The socio-political ‘will’ to invite responses from a type of viewer could be tokenistic or even engaging to the end.

To arrive at a conclusion of who is your right viewer(s) would appear remarkably simple, but the task to incorporate their access factoring the concerns raised in the current art-world scenario is seldom convenient. Further, it is a subjective topic where the viewer or visitor’s liberty to remain free and interpret the objects presented as artworks. The viewership in different exhibition formats (types) has added layers of functioning and could play out to the viewer like simulations. Growing considerate toward an inclusive act for the viewers would usher a structural change in art consumption and exchange. The responsibility lies on each member of the art-ecology to generate interactions amongst the range of viewership.

The article was published in the catalogue of 102nd Annual Art Exhibition • 11th -17th February 2020

BECOMING RESPONSIBLE (ARTIST?)

We don’t understand modern art! 
A comment that is commonly heard from visitors to the art galleries. Satirical caricatures are common in popular media mocking the gap in appreciation, comprehension of the abstract paintings or so-called modern form of visual arts. We find people passing similar comments upon watching newer forms of performing arts termed as hip-hop or dubstep and others. While this attitude is a demarcation between the group of creators and non-creators, it is perhaps in many ways tragic. The efforts on both sides are little as compared to the advancement in creative practices and lifestyle. Who is to be blamed for this situation? Artists for creating something incomprehensible, the art organisations promoting the arts or the viewers for lagging whilst the artists were marching on in the Avant-Garde? There is no one or linear answer to this situation, rather it requires a multitude address to the complex situation(s). We shall attempt here to understand certain influential factors to find the means to arrive at a point where the picture is at least clear for perception.

Students analysing artworks at the exhibition “Romantic Realist: M V Dhurandhar”
at the NGMA, Mumbai, 2019. Photo credit: Author.

Through past few decades lay persons or general viewers of visual arts are noticed to register how they are incapable of understanding the modern arts, and state that they like to see paintings by Ravi Varma or portraits or figurative works and landscapes, that have something identifiable, or at least they could relate with the elements surrounding them. However, it would be generally observed that even with a simple landscape or any mythological scene painted the perception of this audience is in fact superficial. While this is the classical tragedy of our audience, the problem is multi-layered.

The European renaissance movement led to shifts in not only the fine arts but all the sciences and humanities, that helped the societies too to graduate simultaneously. This development continues through further centuries creating an ecosystem of education, the culture of collecting and displaying the artworks keeping the audience informed through salon exhibitions, public museums, ateliers, workshops, studios, galleries, and similar formal and informal set-ups. Though with several (necessary) oppositions to earlier styles and movements, the visual arts have grown richer with a continuous reflection upon world history and life. A similar phenomenon is not observed in colonial India and onwards. The industrial revolution gave rise to developments but primarily in manufacturing and allied markets. Little was done on a national scale for the education of the audience. However, the artists were provided with the institutional machines of Lalit Kala Akademi, its regional centres and the Triennale expositions making room for the interaction of artists internationally through the artworks and few artist exchange programs. A necessary inclusive approach engaging artworks and the viewers have been out of the programming checklists for decades till late at all counters. The research symposia and discourses at the universities documenting the history and cultural landscape of India appear to provide some engagement, but mainly for the informed viewers and to an extent the elite.

Art writing as a discipline is nascent in India with critical writing arrested to the selected urban art practices. Major literature is found through catalogue essays, gallery notes and mostly use the language of academic nature, heavily worded with jargons that are inaccessible to not only the general public but also to the artists themselves. Besides, the fascination for catalogue or exhibition wall texts in English with complex language has become a choice for artists to sound-off the presumed superiority of the works. At times, such language might be a requirement for art historical discourses, but of little use to ‘uninitiated,’ ‘untrained’ minds. In other words, such writing just rejects the entry into the works or ideas OR allows only to select few. The readership too is limited to the people involved in the exchanges of the art world.

Few examples like the book Vision and Creation by Nandalal Bose, in Marathi, Soundarya ani Sahitya by B S Mardhekar, Soundarya Mimansa by R B Patankar and Nutan Chitravali by Bhayyasaheb Omkar, are some publications to name a few, were available to educate the new enthusiasts and the students of visual arts. Complementing are the regional periodicals and publications by the museums highlighting the curated exhibitions for the promotion of their heritage collection. The BBC TV series of 1972 ‘Ways of Seeing’ presented by John Berger, and the recent series ‘How Art Made the World’ presented by Nigel Spivey etc is significant with eye-opening concepts put across to all types of viewers to enter the world of image making. Having said so, the contemporary practice as an overview is kept out of intellectual bounds of the commoners either as a result of dynamic shifts in practice or practical limitations in being inclusive or perhaps ignorance.

It is also pertinent to ask the citizens, whether they are interested in the visual arts as a component of their cultural life, today? Do they know the significance of visual arts in shaping their children's life besides being educated for earning a livelihood? Whether they are aware of plastic arts (art shaped by hands) as a source of aesthetic experiences other than popular cinema and Netflix? How often do they see an original piece of art? Or do they get such opportunities to engage with art in their neighbourhood? Do you know any painter or a poet living in the neighbourhood? Comprehension of the so-called realism or figurative paintings too requires a context.  – academic and indigenous. The viewers must consider that if their mobile phones can click a facsimile photograph of anything around oneself and even distort them at will just by a click on smartphones, then why to expect an artist to limit themselves to painstakingly paint like a photo. Of course, skill and craftsmanship are virtuous to artists, but challenging the conventional and establishing new idioms of visual language is a requirement of everyone, let alone the artist. 

Cartoon based on the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco incident of young Kevin Nguyen placing his spectacles on the gallery floor that was assumed to be artwork by the viewers, 2016. Illustration by Nikhil Purohit.

With the entry of modernism in India, post-Independence as nation-building activity or in the arts influenced by European styles in Art, the artists were thrilled by the new value system of painting and sculpting. As a general notion, the new trends were accommodated in the mainstream as well as regional centres either with scepticism or devotion. While the academic style of illustration and portraiture were widely accepted, the newer trends with their intense ideas of distortion came as shock to the viewers. The means or avenues to understand this eclectic shift remained missing. The artists of the yester-generation carried an attitude of ‘I’ve done my job (of painting), now it’s their job to understand, I will not (verbally) speak about my work.’ This approach stays justified as visual art is meant to be seen and not verbally described by the artist again. As this stand expects equal efforts from the viewers, the art historical context needs to be presented to them without which one cannot respond in a manner that creates a dialogue with artworks. Besides, this stand is largely admissible only to abstract expressionist works and not a general prescription to all genres of art. Given the vividness in the contemporary art world, a sizable group(s) of artists and private galleries are promoting art that is explicitly vague, pseudo-intellectual, poor copies of popular or renowned artworks, and vulgar under the name of radical. These ill-practices add another challenge, layer for identification of good art against fictitious art practices. In this case, is the artist (in general) to be held responsible for this?

Organisations of all types have their distinct roles in the promotion of the arts. Educational institutes, Private organisations and collectors, commercial and public art galleries, auction houses, non-profit cultural organisations, conservation services are the prominent elements found in urban spaces. With the changing scenario of the contemporary arts, all these organisations need to change their working methods to accommodate newer approaches and economics. As education is primary to the students of visual arts, it is necessary to identify and sensitise their audience for a dialogue. The Bombay Art Society, The Arts Society of India, Lalit Kala Akademi etc need to engage in providing a platform for the arts besides the conventional mode of artist camps, annual exhibitions, and award ceremonies. While these organisations have provided the foundation to the current art world of India, with due credit to them, they also must consider the inevitable shifts in the artistic exchanges and reform.

The creators and audience today have access to the world of internet and find sources of learning and entertainment through more dynamic means that cannot be thought of. Keeping the exhibition format interactive, display design engaging for the audience to practically participate, and facilitating open access for interpretation of the artworks. The diversity of contemporary art practice has increased globally making it even more incomprehensible and challenging to associate one set of aesthetic values. Perhaps this transition makes it difficult to establish free-flowing systems to appreciate the arts. However, the concepts of Arts or Heritage management along with art mediation have been enriching the whole economy of arts sustainability and cultural exchanges. Indian museums like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Bhau Daji Lad City Museum, Kochi Biennale, the newly opened Bihar Museum have been incorporating means to engage the audience not only to have better footfall at the premises but also to increase the time spent in watching the display area. With the International Council of Museums (ICOM) motto of museums having ‘no borders but networks,’ the message is clear and right out there, declaring the inclusive and educative agenda of the human cultural heritage for the generations to come. ICOM defines a museum as ‘a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment. Can other stakeholders bear some of these aforesaid characteristics?

Art Mediation workshop held at studio Pannadwar, Naigaon, Palghar, 2018. Photo credit: Author.

Art Mediation is the only solution to the disparities in art appreciation for the layperson as well as artists. Art Mediation is a growing field of activities in a flourishing contemporary art world. The reason for these intensified engagements is not only the increasing number of exhibitions and events like biennales or festivals in recent years spreading all over the world but much more it is the desire to make the art world a less elitist and more broadly accessible place that motivates art mediation. In order to let independent interpretations of the artworks presented along with supporting lateral perceptions, mediation tools are the need of today for bridging the gap of non-perception to open access to perception. This would enable the viewers not only have a better perception of the arts but also to have a say in the practices.

Art is a free activity, and to let it be free we need an informed audience and the economic system in place. Having said so Art Mediation is not limited to, post exhibition activity, but right from the conception of an exhibition, designing the display, the place of the exhibition, the commercial aspects are taken into consideration and if the artist feels comfortable- even during the making of art. Thus, it is the responsibility not alone of the artist to make art but also of the other members to make the art accessible ensuring the shift from “We don’t understand modern art!” to “We find art (all) amusing/ interesting/ non-aesthetic/ unacceptable/ entertaining/ contextual/ critical/ rebellious/ etc.”

Nikhil J L Purohit 

12. 03. 2019

ASTITVA CA. 1973 TO 1976: AN EXISTENTIAL QUEST BY ARTISTS FOR ARTISTS

Exhibition Catalogue Cover, Courtesy: Dilip Ranade

The fugacious group formed by the third generation of the Mumbai based modernist painters emerged in the early seventies named Astitva, to solve the sustenance woes of the artists. The article collate the facts and angst of the much spoken but less documented artist's group. 

Prabhakar Barve, Ink on paper, 1975, Courtesy: Bodhana Arts And Research Foundation

Artists are not altruists. They like any other social members struggle to maintain their existence and the artistic endeavours and make a living in the society. Artists aren’t granted a privileged Astitva.

A group of twelve painters emerged that was headed by Prabhakar Barve sometime in 1972, called Astitva. While the term has both semantic as well as practical connotations, the aim was a simple and straightforward one. The memorandum published in the catalogue of first and the only exhibition (group) of Astitva Group makes its purpose clear. The exhibition of the group was held by the Max Muller Bhavan, Mumbai at the formerly Stuttgart Hall, in the fort area on October 9, 1974.

‘ASTITVA' came into existence as a group of twelve artists, in January 1974. The aim of 'Astitva' is to create a situation which allows an artist to paint and to exhibit minus the worry of the financial factors involved. It is noticed that the major difficulty an artist faces today is the element of financial risk involved in exhibiting his works on his own. Hence, it was felt that the group should help the artist by purchasing one painting, valuing up to Rs. 1000 when the artist exhibiting his work experiences a total financial loss. In order to provide funds to purchase such paintings. Each member of the group contributes Rs. 10 per month. Since the inception of 'Astitva’ besides, to give a substantial start to this scheme each member artist has contributed two of his recent paintings to this exhibition. The sale proceeds shall constitute the group's funds, which shall specifically be used to purchase paintings.’

The group managed to help Apolonario D’Souza and few others by purchasing their works from the exhibitions, which are said to have been donated to the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai upon the conclusion of the group.

The number of members was restricted to twelve to be able to manage the operations. 

The first set of artists who formed the group and exhibited were Anandmohan Naik, Bharati Kapadia, Dilip Ranade, G. S. Adivrekar, Gautam Vaghela, Nirupama Karkhanis, Prabhakar Barwe, Prabhakar Kolte, Shobha Godbole, Sukumar Dutta, Thakore Patel, V. K. Wankhede. Other members that replaced some of the original members were Shakuntala Kulkarni and Lalitha Lajmi.

The aim was pertinent as the number of galleries and exhibition spaces were limited during the days lacking a structure to the economy of sustenance. The financial independence was and is crucial for a sustained practice. Many artists loose track with the existential angst. Besides the fundamental aim of supporting the artists, the focus of the group was to meet up and conduct discussions about the current art affairs and exhibitions in the city. The era was influenced by the formalist ideas and it took a hard grip on the minds of several artists in India. Barve was one ardent formalist in his own way with a reference to tantra art. The regular meetups were coordinated by Dilip Ranade through postcards informing the date and place of the gathering. Mostly the meetups took at the Elphinstone canteen, Barve’s studios after the office hours at the Weaver’s Service Center. At some point in time, they started to visit each member’s place so that one gets to see each other’s works and discuss. (It is also said by one of the members that the residence of Anandmohan Naik in Bandra was the main location for the meet-ups.)

Artists photographs in the exhibition catalogue, Courtesy: Dilip Ranade

The group though restricted to twelve members, was flexible to meetups where people like Kavita Sahani, Bhadrakant Zaveri, from theatre background actively contributed to the discussions. Bharti Kapadia cites the role of Bhadrakant Zaveri in starting the group as being pivotal. He is also said to have brought in diverse views regarding the discussions significant to theatre perspective. A foreign artist is reported to have visited once. Nirupama Karkhanis and Shobha Godbole discontinued. With some ideological difference, Prabhakar Kolte is reported to have withdrawn and went on to pursue his practice independently. Kolte perhaps has fond memories of the exchanges and locates Barve as the key of Astitva group. Eventually, Lalitha Lajmi who stayed in Colaba those days joined the group. Later Shakuntala Kulkarni too became a part. The disbanding of the group is said to have happened after a meeting at the residence of Lajmi.  The information incidentally based on the memories of the participants, unfortunately, least of the informal exchanges have been recorded to testify the facts. Even though, these slight memory differences avail scope for analysing the group formation and its modalities.

Bharati Kapadia, Untitled, Ink on Paper, 1972, Courtesy: Bharati Kapadia

Prabhakar Kolte, Watercolour on Post Card, 1976

The conversations that bound the members together revolved around the concepts of formalism. The language of conduct was primarily English and partly Marathi. The topics were usually conducted based upon work(s) of any particular artist or the fundamental elements of a pictorial etc. Barve led the talks and generally his works are said to be the entry for the discussions. The formal elements of space, colour, texture, volume, line, shapes, forms, their interaction on a picture plane, the effects of certain distortions etc. occupied the discussions.

Shakuntala Kulkarni, Untitled, Engraving,

1976, Courtesy: Artist

Shakuntala Kulkarni acknowledges the role of such discussions in a thorough formalist understanding. This has helped her formulate the later works with diverse experiments with the medium and concepts. However, Barve being a strict formalist didn’t respond to her works based on socialist ideas. The artists didn’t refuse the socialist approach but regarded formal aesthetics more than any other values associated with image making. Therefore, artists, Navjot and Altaf couldn’t be part of the Astitva group as they followed Marxist ideology into their practice. One can notice a strong compositional sense adhering to formal aesthetics amongst the group members. Especially Barve, Dilip Ranade, Vasant Vankhede and Gopal Adivrekar. Bharati Kapadia says ‘the confidence to speak up, and put forth your ideas and seeking responses was the key feature of the group’.

Vasant Vankhede with his painting. Courtesy: Bodhana Arts And Research Foundation

The gatherings even planned some experiments for their primary purpose. Postcards were customised with Astitva label. All the artists were expected to paint on the small format of postcards to be sold at an affordable price. It’s not known how many of the members actually responded to the idea, but an example painted by Dilip Ranade is available for the record. Another similar attempt was of much curiosity. All the eleven members were to paint as a response to the twelfth member’s work, but there is no documentation of the same to be discussed. The group also intended to widen the range of interaction with writers and poets. However, this intention doesn’t seem to have worked further as the group disbanded sometime around 1976.

Gopal Adivrekar, Anatomy of Banaras, Oil on canvas, 1970

Courtesy: Ratnadeep Adivrekar

The senior members like Vaghela, Adivrekar, Barve, Vankhede have had almost formed and realised their material, approach and stand towards their works. Adivrekar worked with sand for textures in the painting. Anandmohan worked in watercolour, papier-mâché sculptures painted with enamel paints. Hence the scope of shifts or changes remained mostly with the younger members. It must not be read as rigidity by stages of the practice.

Lalitha Lajmi, Dream of a Mask, Etching, 1975, Courtesy: Artist

The groups’ only exhibition was fairly reviewed in the newspapers appreciating the efforts of the group and highlighting the works of some artists. Two works of each member and comprising of abstraction, semi-abstraction, symbolical paintings and collages made with newspapers and magazine illustrations were displayed in the Astitva show. The Times of India art critic comments of the act being an attempt of financial self-protection than creative contribution, but also appreciated the works of abstractionists in the group. Some of the members simultaneously participated in a group show called ‘Seven Painters’ that had black colour as the common element reflecting the reactions of the artists’ towards the current socio-political atmosphere infected with corruption. Astitva was critiqued to have been lacking a ‘base’ whereas the Seven Painters show was perceived to provide a fascinating study of emotions and reactions to the theme.

After the group disbanded some of the members continued to meet at the Milkbar - a location opposite to the CSMVS (Formerly Prince of Wales Museum) a canteen for the secretariat where they met and discussed till late evening. Prabhakar Barve, Dilip Ranade, Bharati Kapadia and Bhadrakant Zaveri, Vasant Vankhede, Shakuntala and occasionally Lalitha Lajmi met every Friday. The sole purpose was to converse. Akbar Padamsee, Vikram Sethi is reported to have visited the meetups. Eventually, after 1994, Barve’s health declined and the discussions too.

The event of Astitva appears linear to the thought. The proceedings were limited to fewer economic transactions, but the beneficiaries largely profited through the conversations conducted. However, the existential angst of financial security remains classically unanswered. Several artists in the past have attempted to challenge, divulge, and formulate modes of financial backing for the community of artists. Royal patronage and institutional support have partially served to pad the impact. Would have the group continued their exercise; we might probably have had a better system to bank upon, instead of endlessly writing funding, scholarship and residency proposals!

The data for the article has been sourced from conversations with the existing members of the group Dilip Ranade, Bharati Kapadia, Prabhakar Kolte, Lalitha Lajmi, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Anandmohan Naik, a catalogue of the first exhibition, and newspaper articles.

Warli Writers of the Twenty-First Century

An enumeration of the current practices of young Warli artists Tushar and Mayur Vayeda, Rajesh Vangad hailing from Devgaon, Dahanu.

Tushar and Mayur Vayeda, Gathering of Gods, Poster Colour on Cowdung primed canvas. ca. 2016

Tribal painters are popularly imagined to be painting on the walls of the cave in their aboriginal attire with bare bodies and the skin painted in organic abstract patterns. Today, the kind of attire for Warli tribe has become ceremonial, ritual purpose and the garbs of these forest inhabitants are indifferent to any urban dweller. With shifting lifestyles, the community members have sought to different occupations and employment available in their neighbourhood.  With this in the mind, we shall explore the nature of the Warli practice today, the newer idioms they have adopted to keep the tradition alive with a relevance to their changed geography and surrounding habitat. 

Rajesh Vangad, City Life

Warli has become an art form more practised by several non-Warli community members. Though there are both positive and adverse connotations to it, Padmashree awardee Jivya Soma Mashe a resident of Ganjad village in Dahanu, Maharashtra is credited for a widespread reach of Warli. A dynamic proponent of the native visual form,Mashe’s dynamism lies in bringing Warli painting, beyond the confines of ritual based imagery and depicting the nature in myriad compositions. His innovations in the compositions and meticulously formulated folklore are a treat to the sight of any viewer for its sheer reverberating visuals. An international figure, the humble artist who passed away on May 15, 2018, at the age of 84 is highly revered. A befitting tribute to him would be to sensitise the viewers to appreciate the indigenous processes and significance of region-specific practices. 

Jivya Soma Mhase at his home in 2015. © Gauri Gill

I was introduced to two promising young artists Tushar Vayeda, Mayur Vayeda, and eventually to their elder Rajesh Vangad who studied under the tutorship of Jivya Mashe. After pursuing digital animation and business management course Tushar and Mayur respectively decided to resume to their roots and with a driving inclination have successfully ventured into their creative tradition making a mark on the global map following the footsteps of Jivya. 


Writing Warli was fundamentally ritual based and originally produced on residence walls by married women evoking the sanctity desired for occasions like childbirth, weddings called chauk. Warli is considered to be written or inscribed rather than painted. Chauk the square enclosure of several lines inscribed with the central female deity-Palghat devi, a ladder, sun and moon as a witness, a comb and other auspicious elements. The iconographic system is diverse with a range of symbols bearing specific meanings and function are religiously maintained as part of the chauk. Usually, the activity of writing is performed by married women and widows sing the ritual songs. The sons are the soul of ceremonies. With the advent of practice on paper, the mobility changed from static wall mural to display scrolls and many men took it up as a source of revenue with several government aids for empowerment. About thirty or more native males are into writing traditional Warli using paper or canvas surfaces and commission-based works. 


As part of the shifts in lifestyle, an unfortunate development that is noted by the young artists is of the weakening relationship of the children with their land, their inhabiting nature. They carry mobile phones instead of toys and rural games and are barely observant and connect to the heritage. Further, the traditional narratives are getting lost because of trickling knowledge downward the generations. Some senior Warli-writers prefer not to share them for vested interests. 


Originally freshly harvested rice powder was used for the traditional white pigment, however, poster colours, acrylics are being used with brushes on paper and canvas as surface, for the ease of utility. Perhaps, new elements like electronic objects, vehicles, planes, modern buildings too have become part of the Warli nature. While nature and surrounding was their original source of rendering, today their neighbourhood is populated with concrete houses, motor vehicles, telephones, mobiles, railways etc. The Vayeda duo uses cow dung sourced during the monsoons to prepare the cloth surface that gives a range of deep olive-green hues to sepia shades. The colour fades towards the end of monsoon with a reduction in water content of the grazing land. The local cows graze in the surrounding neighbourhood yielding a good raw material for the surface preparation. A mixture of Cow dung and PVA solution is used for priming muslin cloth to be used as the surface. Brush like a tool made of kasar bamboo was used as a traditional instrument but very few use it as the stylus. 

Generally, each narrative is completed in a single painting. Mayur and Tushar are trying to spread it out onto multiple paintings to elaborately describe the tales with utmost details increasing the scope of visual exploration. While, there are several traditional stories, but novel idioms are being used to illustrate them. Especially the new/modern forms carry the influence of seeing nature on the television sets or study of science by the duo. These are evident in the adapted shapes of marine life and other flora and fauna. One of the significant stories that the brothers are pursuing is of the maha-pralay – the great floods that have stark similarity to the Genesis story of Noah’s ark. Bottle Gourd was used to saving the lives of organisms that grew for hundred years on the land and eventually the interior was prepared for the floods by ants and other insects and a pair of selective creatures were accommodated. The gourd then survived all the inhabitants for several days and banked to a land mass. The Vayeda brothers are portraying this tale in a series of paintings.

L to R Mayur Vayeda, Nikhil Purohit and Tushar Vayeda 

Along with the prime activity of Warli-writing Tushar and Mayur are actively involved with a Japanese NGO on a ‘green’ project called noko that means no in the Warli dialect, to create sustainable structures and organic agricultural practices including beekeeping. Their family history is an illustrious one with their grandfather starting the first school in the village at his residence. Their mother continues to serve as a school teacher educating the newer generations of the tribe.

Rajesh Vangad, Shantaram Gorkhana, Sadashiv Mashe, Anil Vangad, Hareshwar Vanga, Balu Dumada, Manoj Bhadange, Kishore Mashe, Amit Dombare, are amongst the few artists who are creatively innovating and adopting idioms for newness in the flow. 

Gauri Gill and Rajesh Vangad, Building the City, 2016, from the series Fields of 

Sight (2013--ongoing), Courtesy: The Artists

Rajesh has extensively travelled all over the world showcasing his innovative Warli skills. The exit gate of terminal two of the international airport in Mumbai flaunts a special Warli that is automated to switch into a new image (set of three images) periodically. He and Tushar have decorated the huge facade wall of the Tata Memorial Hospital in Parel to create a positive atmosphere for the ailing patients. One of the main highlights of Rajesh’s work is the collaborative work Fields of Sight” (2013 - ongoing) with the photographer Gauri Gill that got showcased at the Documenta 2014. The achromatic photographs by Gauri record the landscape of the village and industrial developments with the Warli artist as a conscious observer of the happenings. Rajesh contributed by inking his responses on the photographs visualising the multi-dimensional existence from the past and the present. The imagery bears Warli iconic drawings of rivers, animist ritual, botanical species, a sky veiled with birds in flight over the sea, deforested mountains as well as new imagery to record such events as migration to the cities or the advent of telephone towers and cell phones.

The value system of the artists holds the thread to the future of Warli and its painterly tradition. There are a variety of painters working on craft objects, textiles etc. But some of them personally don’t encourage commodification. Some elders protest the use of Warli on packaging, making it a commercial design element as opposed to its sacred significance. It’s now upon us, the readers, the connoisseurs of Warli whether to promote fallacious practices or to encourage sustainability.

The data for the article is based upon personal interviews of the artists and visit to Ganjad, Dahanu. 

Art Space And Props

Review of the exhibition during Pune Biennale 2017 with the nostalgic re-presentation of Pune’s celebrated artist’s studios.

Re-presentation in the world of visual arts has become a convoluted term, trying to mean many different things at different moments. However, the term used here is with its primary meaning of presenting again. The re-presentation of observed studio-based practices of visual artists belonging to the diverse genre, falling in the frame of yester centuries.  The exhibition Art Space and Props formulated by the Pune residents, artist Nitin Hadap, designer Pramod Riswadkar and graphic designer Abhay Joshi during the Pube Biennale at Pt. Bhimsen Joshi Kaladalan, displays a well-researched perception of the artists’ studios who have been a significant part of the evolution of visual arts in Pune. The re-presented studios belong to the artists hailing from the baithak systems to the modern styles viz. court painter Gangaram Tambat, academic painter Gopal Deuskar,  painter and ceramist Bal Wad, photographer W N Bhat, academic sculptor Dattatray Khatavkar, and modernist Vijay Shinde.

The exhibition format is an educative one with apt infographics and supplementing visuals along with the keenly arranged central studio booth setups belonging to each aforesaid artist. The exhibition makes good use of current printing and installation technology to justify the descriptive yet insightful research performed on the habitational activity of studio practices. It is indeed a challenging job to weave a story that evolves over a long period of time, with several socio-economical influences, and most importantly the unique style of each artist.

The curators’ primary objective was to create the ambience of the working studios. “The aim is to provide the spectator information related to props space and ambience under which they worked. Our endeavour was to furnish a view which provides clue about these interactive aspects and elements with an integrated approach while taking a note of visual forms.”, says the trio.

One important aspect is to make the distinction between the seating and standing posture based practice that informs the work. The standing or sitting posture and gestures have an inherent effect on the work of art. Abundant space is required in the process of creation of abstract art. High level of discipline is maintained while doing a portrait in an academic style. A photo-studio along with studios of painters provided a unique experience. Evolution of Visual Arts of Pune could be noted and studied through the works of the eminent artists who represent their genre as well as the period.

The paintings of the Peshwa court painter Gangaram Tambat (c.1790) trained under the British academic style provide evidence of his mixed visual language reflected from the standard practice of sitting on the floor and making small sized paintings. One may look at Gangaram as representative of his age.

A master of western technique, Gopal Deuskar’s studio presents us with placing the canvas on the easel, working in standing or seated posture, sketching from life, standardised painting procedures along with colour sequencing and such other techniques. His works had a marked influence on academic style. The studio is re-presented similar to the predetermined positions of British style.

Bal Wad having a dual practice of painting and ceramics his studio displays a combination of both methods. With a job experience of serving as an Art Director in M/s Camlin (I), he had acquired in-depth knowledge of material and media.

W N Bhat who owned a professional studio at Laxmi Road in Pune was the pioneering spirit behind starting an educational program in Photography at Fergusson College, Pune. His camera caught the subtle moods of many eminent personalities, such as Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, eminent sitarist Pt Ravi Shankar and lot many others. Thus, it is pertinent to include the studio of a photographer in the timeline of the visual evolution of Pune.

Eminent sculptor popular for his contributions for the festive installations, Dattatray Khatavkar’s studio carried that Fibre-glass which has a slightly pungent smell occasionally. His studio used to be replete with casting moulds, half-done yet to be finished articles, lumps of mixed wet earth and like. He designed on his own innumerable tools and gadgets and crafted them himself.

A deep impression is observed of modernist Vijay Shinde on Pune’s young artists. He created awareness, injected curiosity and developed their understanding of Modern art. His method of creating abstract paintings was a bit complicated. He used to mix paint on pallets using a roller for getting the desired effect. He gestured his body in a specific manner for large strokes on canvass and balanced technique and unimaginable effect. He used to spread his canvas on ground and paint.

The curators behind this notable display adorn positions of significant academic importance. Nitin Hadap is an artist and HOD of Fashion Designing Department, MNVTI, MKSSS, Pune; with a specialised interest in Indian Art History and the History of Modern Art. He has a Ph.D. in archaeology on the subject ‘Composite Motifs in Indian Art’.

Pramod Riswadkar is a designer by profession, with professional experience in the industry as well as academia. He has worked with several industries and was associated with Symbiosis Institute of Design, as HOD (Communication Design).

Abhay Joshi is a practicing graphic designer with a wide range of experiences in print-media spanning more than two decades. He is associated with MKSSS – Manilal Nanavati Vocational Training Institute for Women, Pune as a Visiting Faculty.

With the first step of this exhibition conducted during the Pune Biennale, the trio intends to expand their research and incorporate wider dynamics of the studio practices regionally as well as conceptually.

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