‘I have learnt a lot and I am still learning’

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AT the age of 70, Sakti Burman, one of the most popular names in Indian contemporary art, stands tall, inspired and ready to take another trip down memory lane. The artist, who was recently in Mumbai for two different art shows (one at Art Musings with S.H. Raza and Anjolie Ela Menon; the other a solo show at Pundole Art Gallery, Fort, that included drawings lifted straight from his sketchbook), seemed excited and overjoyed, as he sat comfortably through a long conversation in the quite ambience of the art gallery. The history of art, India, his childhood in Bangladesh, the Partition, days in the Government College of Art & Crafts, Kolkata, his early days in Paris, and a long time span of 55 years that he spent travelling between Paris and India — Sakti’s energetic self has been no less inspiring than his paintings. The spirited artist went on to relive several interesting bits of his life, parts of which that also finds expression in his artwork, where he juxtaposes the past with the present.
“It’s like an assimilation of the past and the present,” says Sakti, adding, “I think memories work for everybody and unconsciously, they accompany you wherever you go. I have grown up in India, but I have been living in France for the last 55 years. I went to France with my own set of ideas, philosophies, morals, and tastes in music, art and sculpture. But over the years, while living in France, their culture has become an important part of me as well. You can’t live without looking around, can you? They all have given me some new substance to think. You get inspired by everything that you come across — the museums, cathedrals, sculptures, gardens, people, cinema and even music. They are more than just fragments of my memories.”
The artist says that the recent artwork on display at the Pundole Art Gallery is a kind of travelogue, created during his journeys over the last few years. “These artworks are like notes, which I make while I am travelling or sitting in a café,” says Sakti, adding that travelling is an important part in any artist’s life. “We artists travel a lot, physically as well as mentally. Even when we are sitting idle, our mind is travelling through our memories. These sketches — a figure, a face or some structure — are a result of the physical and mental travels, reminiscent of the time that I spent in the memories and places,” he says.
Most of the watercolours showcased in this exhibition were done over a period of eight to 10 years. They were drawn during his travels, and were meant to serve as a source of inspiration for the artist, to be recreated on a bigger canvas. They were not meant for public display. Instead, they are a result of him testing the colours before using them on the broader canvas. “I always test the quality of my water colour paints on a sketch-book page before I embark on a large painting. Some of these studies might strike one as complete works, but they were never meant for public display in the first place,” he says.
So, what led Sakti to agree to display those works at Pundole? “When we work, it’s not necessarily for public consumption always. Artists don’t work for others. We work for our own emotions. But, naturally, our living comes from it as well, and we also like to share our pleasure of painting with the world. That’s why these artworks have been put on display here,” he explains.
When asked about the Indian contemporary art scene, Sakti says, “The Indian artwork scenario has come a long way since when I started. There are many young Indian artists now, who are experimenting with the medium and doing well on the international platform as well.” Commenting on what makes Indian contemporary art stand apart internationally, Sakti says that it is the mix of Indian elements with the Western technique.
In his trip to India in December 2010, the artist visited Khajuraho, Bhubaneswar, Konark and Puri. Although this was not the first time he visited these ancient temples and monuments, he was moved by the excellent quality of the workmanship, creativity, imagination and sensibility that went into the making of the wonderful examples in art and architecture. Expectedly, they also made it into the artists’s sketchbook as a separate series on Indian marvels. “I was impressed by the beauty of these temples, their sculpted motifs, and erotic drawings,” says Sakti.
The aim in his sketches and travelogues is always, as the artist says, “An urge to learn and gain more knowledge. I have learnt a lot in the last 55 years, and am still learning. These artworks are reminiscent of that learning process. I hope all these drawings and sketches done in different places of the world will lend diversity to my oeuvre,” he adds.
The exhibition is on till February 28 at the Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai.