Could there be a model different from the usual commercial art gallery system?
Could viewing art be made more experiential and less intimidating? With concerns like these weighing on their minds, many young art practitioners in the city are experimenting with spaces whose priority is to showcase art and not sell.
Gavati Wad
Gavati dislikes the formalness and rigidity of an art gallery. Her decision to show at a small casual restaurant ‘Taste of India’ in Yelahanka has stemmed from this thought process.
A student of contemporart art and films at Srishti, Gavati wants art to be accessible and trigger conversations about our present times. “I realised that our country is in a very interesting phase politically, socially and economically but we are not talking about it. How does art facilitate a dialogue on patriotism, national identity over a meal was something I wanted to explore,” says Gavati, whose simple brief to the artist is to respond to the idea of country.
The project is an amazing example of how Srishti has developed a unique eco-system in and around Yelahanka. The owner of the restaurant Amod Thutiani has an affinity for Srishti students. “I am very close to uncle and that is how the whole thing came about. We have had three shows till now. We don't pay anything to him for the space. The artist spends on creating his art work. On the day of opening, we pool in money and do paranthas. We just save up on our pocket money and that is how we manage it.”
Nihaal Faizal
Twenty year old Nihaal Faizal’s G-159 in Yelahanka is probably the oldest among the lot. As an idea it has been an interesting model for others in the artist community. But what prodded Nihaal and his friend Roshan Shakeel to convert the shared living room of the rented house into a gallery for exhibition was the lack of such spaces in Yelahanka.
“Where do the young thriving Srishti artists show in Yelahanka? Where is the space for discussion? And it didn’t cost us much because we were already paying the rent and the living room is just lying there,” says Nihaal, who is studying contemporary art and films at Srishti. Since its inception in 2013, G-159 has showcased a wide range of art practice, paintings to sculptures, installations to performances, films and even music launches.
And it hasn’t remained confined to the students of Srishti but has shown Clark House Initiative from Mumbai, Christine Rogers, an American artist who left her work with Nihaal to be exhibited in a show and will soon present Delhi’s Arshad Hakim.
The celebrated British photographer Anna Fox was invited to do a talk for the students at the space. As Nihaal’s course draws to a close, it is time to wrap up G-159. “It was always meant to be a temporary space. But before G.159 I never imagined that running a space was something I’d be interested in doing but now it is such a big part of my practice. I do think I would run a space later in my life. It might not be a gallery though.” Considering Nihaal’s curatorial experience - he had curated a show ‘Ummijaan: Making Visible a World Within’ of photographs taken by his great grandmother Haleema Hashim that chronicled Kutchi Memons for a partner project of Kochi Biennale 2014 - his future ventures shouldn't really come as a surprise.
Indu Antony
Indu is a photographer who is shaping the artistic vision of NUMA Bengaluru, a franchise of French start-up accelarator and co-working space on Church Street being helmed by Naresh Narsimhan. The space, which has already had eight shows of paintings, photography and installations to date is now gearing up for its biggest project — the bathroom project. The artist have been invited to send in their entries to create art works for the eight bathrooms in the building. The project has emerged out of Indu’s own fascination for bathrooms. “It is a very intimate space for people, for me personally. So, I thought why not bring in art there,” feels Indu. The photographer says that spaces like theirs also train people’s eyes to notice their surroundings. And even though it is in the confines of a building, the art is still accessible.
“We target different kind of crowds. A lot of people come and use the co-working space, hang out at the cafe. There is a space for artists to ideate and create. In a gallery you go to the art, here the art reaches out to you.” Working on a photo-performance, Indu says her independent practice isn’t getting hampered by her work at NUMA. “It is in fact fuelling ideas and my work.”
Chinar Shah
A photo artist and a faculty at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Chinar started a gallery in her rented apartment in Kalyan Nagar ‘Home Sweet Home’. The gallery came into being last year with a group show of works gifted to Chinar by her artist friends. With two shows — one group show and a solo by Alison Byrnes, under her belt, Chinar is now preparing for her third show at her gallery this time by a French photographer Fabien Charuau. The young Gujarati artist had never planned for a gallery but was inspired by similar spaces in the city to do so. “I see my space in conversation with lot of other spaces in Bangalore. People who show here are part of other spaces as well. I don’t like the word ‘alternative’ and I am not really against or for commercial galleries either. But I feel that we need spaces where art can be experienced,” says Chinar, who studied photography design at NID, Ahmedabad. Ask her about the sustainability aspect and Chinar replies, “It is not very difficult to do all of this. I already pay the rent for my house. The artist spends money on the art work. We pool in money for the opening. There are different ways of making art - using xerox, using a cheaper quality of paper...there are different ways of showing. And selling is not important for us. If somebody wants to buy it is between the artist and the buyer. There are no cuts. We also break these set notions about art being exclusive and expensive.” Working on a book, Chinar is now toying with the idea of pop-up galleries in different parts of the country.
