India’s soft power has failed to use contemporary art or its living artists as a tool for cultural diplomacy
In all the euphoria of the Obama visit and the ramifications for everything from bilateral business deals, odes to Indian culinary excellence and Michelle’s bazaar-style shopping, the one thing that was oddly missing was any reference to art. True, there was some artist from Kerala whose, er, “portraits” of the US First Couple were part of President Pratibha Patil’s hamper for them, but the Obamas, like all heads of state and their spouses before them, were not exposed to the dynamism of contemporary Indian art.
Unfortunately, our babus who put together programmes for visiting dignitaries, cannot seem to get over the looming shadow of our 5,000-year-old civilisation, as a result of which “art” implies anything from Gandhara sculptures to Mughal monuments — but never, ever the National Gallery of Modern Art, which, most likely, they would never have visited themselves. True, visits by presidential entourages aren’t planned only by the hosts, but it is more than likely that at least some of the visitors might express a desire to acquaint themselves with the country’s current artistic temperament provided it was on offer. That Jaipur House, which houses the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi is in close proximity of most VIP haunts – including Hyderabad House, Rashtrapati Bhawan, most security-cleared hotels and the prime minister’s official residence – means it can be done without the inconvenience of detours for the official cavalcade.
Conceded that the pressure on their time does not allow most visiting heads of state such indulgences, it is still a pity that officials in the government, sadly lacking in exposure to art aesthetics, should not think to use this segment of India’s soft power to more affect. While global art auctions and international collectors have lent sheen to the surge in the price of Indian modern art, neither the prime minister nor the president have thought it fit to include artists among their banquet guest lists where Bollywood actors, writers and fashion designers have been included among the glitterati.
Think of the message that would have gone out – to the fundamentalists who have been responsible for chasing him out of the country, as well as to the world – had M F Husain been invited by President Patil to sup with President Obama, thus ending his exile in Qatar. Or the impact on India’s aspirational classes if gifts to the First Couple had included not the usual pashmina stoles and silver-plated tea-sets but canvases by the country’s best and brightest artists. Might not the Obamas have reacted to Subodh Gupta’s bartans, or created a market for Indian talent with a Rekha Rodwittiya painting hung in the White House? Think of the cultural diplomacy coming into play if, next month, instead of rolling up a traditional Kashmiri carpet for the Sarkozys, the hosts were to present them with a work by S H Raza, the Indian artist who has made France his home since the last six decades.
Indian delegations travelling overseas routinely carry thoughtful gifts of silks and tea, but would it not make a huge impact if works of contemporary art were included among the entourage? Imagine the resonance should Indian visiting heads – who in the past have presented tiger cubs or elephants to zoos – were to make a donation of prominent works of modern art to national museums and art galleries. Not only would the photo-op create ripples about a less exotic face of India, such works would be seen by millions of visitors and create a demand for contemporary art — providing not so much “jobs” as a fillip to official patronage of arts that has all but disappeared in our lacklustre arts institutions.
These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which the writer is associated.