Here in India, if you
are very rich or famous, you are a famous artist the day you decide to become
one, don’t really have to be talented or skilled in the felid. It’s by default.
I hate things default. Oh wait!!! I just happen realized that trend is almost
everywhere and not just here in India, right??? Now comes the real interesting
part of what goes inside the art scene down here. You might get shocked and I am
not responsible for any heart attack...ahahaha...
So some few months ago,
me and roommate did submitted a few proposals to some government art galleries
here for possible exhibition/s (oh!!! by the way my roomie is also an artist
and he does very good portraits). As expected, on their website there are
certain guidelines or condition that one has to fulfill to be able to exhibit
in these galleries and we were pretty sure we met all their requirements. Well
and good. Now after 7 months we haven’t even heard a word from them yet, not
even an email. So, we decided to do a little follow back. Three months ago, we
went to their office to realize that no one even had a clue whatsoever and told
us to wait a few more months. So we wait, now it’s on the 7th+
month. A few days ago, we went back to the office again and found out that the
status had not change since the last time we went there; no one has a clue. Now
after a few ask around, we came to realize that some people had applied some 6
years ago and hasn’t heard a word since.
No, it’s not that there
are too many applications out here for them to accommodate for another
exhibition. The people who are exhibiting here are doing exhibits over and over
again with a few months gap. The fact is, the only person who gets their
applications approved are either already famous artist, in which case they just
have to fill the same application for we filled and get the space for next
month, or you are related to some political background who can make a few calls
and get the paper signed. Wow!!! Now that’s encouraging.
The really interesting
thing going down here in the art scene is, like every other country, India also
has government bodies specially dedicated to art and culture who is supposed to
be promoting Indian art to the world at large and give platform to new and
emerging artist. But the sad story is; it’s all run by the political biggies
who don’t even own a single piece of art at home, leave alone understand art.
Now you get the picture. It’s a shame because that’s what they do here exactly
in the field of sports. Here movie stars are given the honor to run the torch in
any major sporting events; it’s more glamorous you see…lol…
Now where does that
leave an artist like me? Private galleries or Art Fair’s or private shows.
What goes inside the
private galleries is even worst then what’s happening with the government
galleries. With government gallery, if you are one lucky son of a b**ch, they
don’t charge any renting fees or whatsoever, but with the private galleries,
you have to pay for renting there galleries plus anywhere between 40-60%
commissions from any sales. Honestly, I think it’s better to buy your own house
then renting one of these private galleries for a month and rent out the house for
your monthly income. Or what they usually do is, they have their own
collections and that’s what they showcase and sells.
Unlike the rest of the
world, Art Fairs in India is a b**ch. We have almost none throughout the year. The
only two I know is “The Indian Art Fair” (which is the biggest and only names
get to showcase their works here) and “The United Art Fair”. The second one is
even more interesting because of the fact that their motto was to showcase only
emerging artist and totally run by artist, well that’s what they say on papers.
Some 18 months ago I started following them after concluding their first fair
which according to newspapers was successful in showcasing many emerging artist
to the world. So, I was hoping that maybe these year, I will apply when they
starts accepting applications and hope for the best. So one fine day it came
out on newspaper about them starting accepting applications. I was excited and
decided to pay a visit on their website. This was what happened; there was no
application form anywhere. They only flash the advertisement on their homepage
that they were accepting applications (just playing their game of abiding by
the government order of “Right to Information”). I thought it was just a system
glitch, so I check back the next day to realize that the application was close
and all filled. I wrote a few emails and never got any reply, so I gave up.
What was even more shocking was that, the people line up in their organizing
committee are all f**king politicians.
Yes the only option for
now is, organize a few private exhibitions and hope for the best just like the
last time we did. But sometimes it’s very hard to get a place big enough fit
our purpose and at cheaper rates and it can be real tiresome. Last time we did,
I didn’t get to sleep for over a week and after the show, I look like a death
zombie (now zombie is already really bad, but here I was a death zombie, now that’s
the worst me you can get). I am not going into the details.
Sorry, it’s been a bit of
a long story now, but as you can see I am a little bit pissed off these days.
And during my recent art studies/research; I did realize that with an exception
for “Rabindranath Tagore” (first Noble Prize winner from India in literature),
the rest of the big names in the Indian art scene never became a name in India.
They all went abroad and became names and then came back to India. Now that’s
motivating enough and Damn!!! Osama, the 9/11 incident, now it’s almost
impossible to get a VISA to go anywhere else in the world unless you are from Europe
or US or UK…F**KED…
Last word: By the way, I
did those sketches when I was in college. I did many of them and I also lost
many of them. Math can be boring and I needed something to do to keep me awake
in class. Just don’t ask me, why all nude??? Ahahaha…
