While NGMA (National Gallery of Modern Art) Bengaluru’s journey has not been as long as its counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai, it has been an exciting one.
From being a space which would largely showcase exhibitions travelling from NGMA Delhi, it has grown into an entity with an independent programming. The result is exhibitions by artists from all over India and some excellent events with which it crosses boundaries to assimilate other disciplines such as screenings of films on environment, Transgender Exclusive Arts Festival and a Girish Kasaravalli film festival to name a few.
“Mind you this is despite its limitations of funds, lack of permanent director and curators,” says S.G.Vasudev, a senior contemporary artist from Bengaluru. He was the member of two consecutive advisory committees of NGMA. The committee headed by Sudhakar Rao retired civil servant, meets often to decide on artists’ proposals. “I got a go ahead from NGMA within four months. It doesn’t feel like a sarkari organisation. It is open to ideas and public,” says Delhi-based artist G.R.Iranna who had his mid-career retrospective, ‘And The Last Shall Be the First’, at NGMA this February.
Iranna, who is from Bijapur, thought it was apt to have the retrospective in his home state and NGMA was the perfect space for it. Housed in the colonial-style Manikyavelu Mansion on Palace Road, with its lush greenery and a beautiful water-body, NGMA looks like a dream. “It is a very inviting place so there are a lot of casual walk-ins. You can sit for hours in the cafeteria which serves good food,” adds Iranna. The artist doesn’t forget to credit Rehana Shah, deputy curator of NGMA Bengaluru for her contribution towards making the space what it is today. A force to reckon with, she passed away a few months ago leaving everybody in shock. “What a passionate worker and lover of art. She was a hands-on person,” Iranna remembers.
In the last two years or so, NGMA has had exhibitions by the who’s who of the contemporary art scene. From Raja Ravi Varma, Somnath Hore, K.G.Subramanyan, architect Le Corbusier, Jogen Chowdhury to V.Ramesh, Madhvi Parekh, sculptor S.Radhakrishnan, photographer and art historian Benoy K.Behl, the premier modern art institution has brought a gamut of names and their myriad art practices for the city’s audience. Add to the list some of the landmark shows that have come from NGMA Delhi such as Ramkinkar Baij, Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil and Jamini Roy.
And now NGMA is bracing up for a seminal show of photographs by Kanu Gandhi, grandnephew of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2, followed by A.Ramachandran and Arpana Caur. Open to tie-ups with galleries and organisations, the venue is able to overcome its problem of funds with galleries bringing the show incurring the expenditure. S.G.Vasudev finds the system just right in the light of limitations. “That is how it is able to have more shows. Also, not every show can travel from NGMA Delhi so the institution will have to come up with their own ideas.”
Darshan Kumar YU, assistant curator, NGMA Bengaluru feels that the institution has grown horizontally and not vertically. “And it can’t follow the model of any other museum because the city’s demands are different. People are interested in different art disciplines and they want access to all of it in a central location. So, we think of various possibilities with an exhibition. People love guided walkthroughs especially when they are conducted by the artist. With Iranna, we wanted to do a workshop on installations,” says the young curator. Monthly talks by artists held by NGMA in collaboration with Dakahavisa also aids its curatorial vision to promote art by introducing different artists to the audience. The art reference library is another magnet for art students feels Vasvi Oza, Assistant Curator, NGMA Bengaluru.
Iranna agrees that Bengaluru has a very different crowd, the one which is interested in art and culture and tries to comprehend and question. “Everyday I had about 80-100 visitors and about 60 people for the walkthrough. There are several art colleges in Karnataka. Buses full of students from these art colleges came for my show. NGMA had created such a buzz around the show!”
Even for the recently-held show of rare lithographs of Raja Ravi Varma, its collector Ganesh Shivaswamy had to do more curated walks than planned on the demand of visitors. “I think the ball was set rolling by the first director of NGMA Bengaluru Sobha Nambisan who streamlined the whole thing. Shows such as Rumale Channabasavaiah and K.K.Hebbar set the tone. For Rumale’s show, city buses were used to create a buzz,” says Vasudev, who suggests setting up a trust to overcome funding issues, a more diverse and vibrant advisory committees and permanent directors and curators on board.
