Does folk art pay?

ART INVESTMENTS

Buying these art works may not get you to the front pages of newspapers nor be invited to television studios. But if you're looking at long-term investments, give collecting folk art a thought.

As Alka Pande, consultant art advisor and curator, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi says: "All those who bought Husain a couple of decades ago are sitting on pots of money now. In the 70s or 80s you could buy a Husain for a few hundred rupees and now he sells for crores. When it comes to art, one should have a long-term perspective."

Another Delhi-based art scholar puts folk art in perspective when he says that there are three types of folk art. The first one is antique folk art which is generally expensive and is hard to come by; the second category is the mass produced art works that flood the state emporia. There is a 25 per cent to 50 per cent price difference between good and poor quality works.

The last category is the one which most experts suggest buying: getting works of individual artists with their signature. Prices of these pieces are most likely to appreciate faster.

But the problem with marketing folk art in India is the step-motherly treatment it receives from everybody.

Complains an art scholar: "While Delhi's National Gallery of Modern Art falls under the ministry of culture, Crafts Museum, which houses folk art falls under the ministry of textiles."

Laments Pande: "We do not respect our living traditions. Folk art has been reduced to being a museum piece. We tend to look at it more in terms of just craft rather than art."

She goes on to add that folk artists are paid for the time they spent on creating rather than their creative process.

But the problem also has a social dimension as O P Jain, convenor, INTACH (Delhi chapter) points out: "Unlike contemporary art, folk art is not a status symbol. The whole sector is disorganised. Nobody seems to be sensitive to our folk tradition."

His sentiments are echoed by Renu Modi of Delhi's Gallery Espace: "For most art buyers folk art reeks of NGOs and museums. They do not see it as an investment. It's also priced low as compared to contemporary art that there is no snob value attached to it."

Even those dealing with art do not seem too keen in pushing folk art as an investment tool. Mumbai-based art dealer Ashish Balram Nagpal says, "Art dealers have to have a vested interest. You need to choose folk artists and promote them. Only then will the market for folk art develop. There is a lot of scope for folk art to be a major investment avenue."

Any good quality art, whether folk or contemporary, is sure to appreciate in value agree art experts. And for folk art to find a place in the Indian sun the market needs consultants to guide the markets and galleries as well as buyers to promote it.

But why wait when one can go ahead and buy when the prices are down. Pande has the last word: "Visit the emporia, talk to consultants, buy what you fancy and then sit tight for a few years. Folk art is a niche investment segment and prices are sure to rise in future."

The best buys, according to experts

Madhubani paintings: Ganga Devi, Sita Devi, Baua Devi

Kalighat pats: Kalam Patua

Warli tribal paintings: Jivya Soma Mashe

Gond tribal painting: Jangarh Shyam

Pottery: Neelmani Devi

Clay relief work: Sundari Bai, Sona Bai