Art & Education Goes For A Toss!

An overview of the education scenario of visual arts in Maharashtra through the lens of recent movements in the state.

Is Art a way of Education? Does teaching Art, help education?

The phrases of ‘death of art’, ‘death of painting’ keep surfacing now and then to check the validity of art praxis in general and certain practices in particular. The statements of this type impress the idea of redundancy and either invalidate or question the implications of the ideas already in practice. A similar questioning is imposed on the validity of art education and its current pedagogical modes of dissemination, throughout the nation. The objections are mostly displayed informally and the wise who object find cover under their dogmatic routine. The people who have been registering their formal objections are observed to be doing so under the protocols of their employment. However, the present case study does not lie in this clear binary of formal or official actions versus informal movement for pedagogical revision supplied with vested personal benefits or communal welfare. The article does not attempt to find immediate solutions or direction for actions but to assess and table the complex cold turmoil evident through various societal movements.

38th School Art Educators, Sangli, Maharashtra

The discussion here emerges from my visit to the annual art educators’ seminar conducted on 29, 30 April 2017 at Sangli, Maharashtra in the premises of Kalavishwa Mahavidyalaya. Nearly four hundred art educators associated with state-run primary and secondary schools and some private trusts participated in the seminar. The entire activity raised some serious queries pertaining to the role of ‘institutions’ in art education. Due to a keen interest in art education I, in general, was curious to discover the concerns addressed and understand an overall modus operandi of the art teachers associations. The subject being layered, my concerns extend to art education and the diverse ideas relating to formal academic art education, schooling as well as informal learning.         

While we live in the atmosphere of the so-called contemporaneity, the mainstream art world, itself, is full of anxieties regarding the practices relying on technological advancements, identity crisis, societal concerns as well as differences and political struggles. While art education is an integral part of this climate, the scenario could be categorically comprehended through school level education and formal academic education. Art education is further influenced by the factors of State administrative system accompanied by the vague willingness of the personnel for the development of the creative sector. In the year 2015, the state government of Maharashtra passed a resolution declaring to stop new appointments for the posts of art and sports teachers, and to hire them on visiting basis or as guest faculty providing them remuneration of Rs. 50 per session. This induced anxiety among the candidates from all over the state, especially from rural regions who had aspired to be employed as teachers. The candidates, completing their Art Teacher Diploma (ATD) or Diploma in Art Education (Dip. A.Ed.), were suddenly rendered jobless by the state. Several trials of sporadic efforts are made to revoke the decision, on regional levels. The Art Teacher’s Association of Maharashtra, its office in Pune, has been chasing the respective authorities for justice, right from the Directorate of Art, Mumbai to the Cultural and Education Ministry. The excitement was further enhanced by reducing the teaching classes from six classes to four, and recently it has been further cropped to two classes per week. The teachers are of the opinion that in order to make the children prepare and start working on the given subject itself takes considerable time. This allows very little scope for any sorts of creative engagement or skill development. The annual surveys published in the newspapers boast of increasing aptitude of students towards Fine Arts as compared to the conventional streams of Science and Commerce. Given this piece of information, numerous students appear for the grade examinations, the grades of which help in the increased marking of the matriculation exams. While the scope of learning the subject is highly limited in these state board schools, the tuition mania brawls all over the suburbs promising great grades. As an effect, the urban ‘drawing’ teacher finds a rich source of income besides the school salary!

Although the economics appears to be interesting, the question of the ‘content’ being shared or learned as art is dubious. As per the prevalent, most students and teachers learn from a state-approved drawing-book full of prescriptions for each sub-subject. On one hand, where the contemporary art has superseded human comprehension of what art is, on the other hand, the domestic school is still preaching from the old testaments. Further, the threat to the jobs of the employees teaching also annotates the chaos. Thinking of the progressive International Baccalaureate (IB) schooling for arts, it brings in a whole new mechanism of learning by excerpts through the popular art history. The parents are satisfied to see their ward successfully imitating a Van Gogh or a Picasso or an Art Deco or an Art Nouveau object. One cannot discount the exposure to art history and ever the same one must not discount child-centric learning where the fact sustains that children learn based on their own inclinations and not for the sake of getting ‘educated’.  However, it is not righteous to jump to a conclusion declaring the genuine efforts taken by fellow art educators and inferring to be redundant. Perhaps their honest efforts are the avenues of encouragement for aspiring artists.

The seminar at Sangli reiterated the protection of employment and emphasised on new recruitment to ensure continued art education and promotion of artistic faculties. Several political leaders and officials from the Education Department extended their support to the existential struggle. The seminar brought together art educators from several regional pockets of Maharashtra and the representatives of the same had organized visits to the Directorate of Art, Mumbai and public rallies to the Ministry to make their demands heard by the authorities. It was in vain. The central association based in Pune has approached the house of law to resolve their drudgery with the hope that the bureaucracy heeds to their demands by reason.

Upon considering the second category, of art colleges in Maharashtra, the scenario grows more complex. One has witnessed several strikes called by students and institutes like Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, Pune, Raheja School of Art, Mumbai etc. demanding basic requirements of regular teaching staff and fundamental facilities.

Perhaps, the situation has encouraged self-learning among students who, being independent, seem to progress in their artistic careers. Though there are efforts made to improve the pedagogy, the system or means of imparting the revised curricula to the teaching staff and its implementation in the learning arena is not observed to be efficient enough. Further, the body responsible for upgrading and maintaining the status of art education in the state is, generally, either devoid of a responsible head or held by a person from a non-arts background with a little understanding of art based learning. The state government recently awarded autonomy to the Sir. J. J. School of Art. It has spurred several queries and doubts about the institution’s role and responsibility. The validity of the certifications issued by the Mumbai University to the students, the validity of the Directorate of Art as per the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) or UGC norms are being questioned. Though the responses to all these doubts raised are unclear, the pressing question is whether Art is considered a free activity or is it a free time activity?

Art history has witnessed suppression of freedom in many instances and artists have always managed to find their niche or vent to establish their ideas through their creations. In the wake of the latest technological breakthroughs, the avenues of expression and creative experiences have diversified sporadically. While the faculty of art education and its future seems grim, we can be optimistic of the engines of Biennale, art fairs, and digital educational programming to bring about a different perspective and usher positive change where interdisciplinary functioning is a primary mode of functioning.

***