All the important cities of Europe and America have a beautiful tradition of creating space for the art and artists – be it the hill on Montmartre in Paris, the Palace plaza in Rome, the Leister Square in London, St Mark’s square in Venice, City Centre in Berlin and Vienna, Zurich and Geneva — the list goes on and on. These spaces are open enough to allow the artists to function and display their art and the audience to interact with them — be they tourists or serious art buyers. From the struggling to successful, all have found time to visit and work in these spaces in their commitment to the cause of art.
It is surprising that India, despite its great tradition of great art – folk, traditional and contemporary, does not have such a space so far. It is not as if there is no space in our cities for such a venture. Most cities have open spaces in the forms of playgrounds where artists and their consumers can come together. Ideally speaking, the winter months in most parts of the country are great for such a venture, but in the hills or places where it becomes too cold, this blissful time just before the winter sets in would be good too.
It has been one of my most cherished dreams to put something like this together in the five metros: Lodhi Gardens in New Delhi, Victoria Memorial Gardens in Kolkata, Juhu beach in Mumbai, Cubbon Park in Bengaluru, Marina Beach in Chennai, and the Golconda Fort ruins in Hyderabad. Even if there are not that many artists in other cities, there are enough to make this a success once a fortnight.
New Delhi, which is home to such a large art community, is ideally located for such a venture in the wonderful winter months. A weekly or fortnightly art conglomeration in the open spaces in either the Lodhi Garden or the Nehru Park could be open to folk painters, traditional painters and sculptors, contemporary artists to work there, display their work, hang out and even sell their work. No fees should be charged from them for either working there or any commission from the sale.
The ambience in such places will be that of free flow of interaction between the creators of art and their consumers. Initially, the artists will be invited to participate and later as the programme gains popularity, others will be allowed to register. Practising artists, hobby painters and students should be allowed to participate. Specially created and designed canvas canopies along with a surface area for the paints, easels, chairs is all that is needed. Other design inputs will include banners and ambience creation tools to focus attention on the meet. It could be a wonderful opportunity for branding of an art company, a telephone company or any other product that is looking for an upmarket tool to spread its wings.
I was sharing this idea with a fellow artist the other day and he was very enthusiastic and wished it could have started day before yesterday. But when I told him about the sharing the idea with my readers, he was aghast as he thought it could be a commercially viable proposition and I was giving it on a platter to some commercial house or even a bureaucrat. But then like the proverbial cat, who didn’t teach the fox to climb the tree, the key to the success of this venture is an ongoing and sustained artist management to ensure the prestige, popularity and dignity of the programme, which is not everyone’s cup of paint!
But having said that, this is such a cherished dream that I wish someone actually executes it so at least I will see it come true. And aren’t ideas like pollen scattered in the wind? Someday, somewhere, someone will pick up and the seed will germinate into a flower…
Dr Alka Raghuvanshi is an art writer, curator and artist