Six years ago, this time, I was part of a writers residency in Puducherry. Run by Sangam House, it was located at Adishakti, a theatre collective established by Veenapani Chawla. A well-regarded practitioner, the residency was her way of funding the theatre initiative. I soon realised the hothouse atmosphere of a residency was not to my liking, finding my fellow writers and poets not so much exotic as neurotic. Confined to my room, I used the Internet to email questionnaires to those assisting with my research.
Adishakti had much to commend it - a troupe of gifted artisans who practised there, and whose rehearsals you could drop in any time to watch, a beautiful location, fantastic cuisine, its proximity to Auroville, and, of course, excursions to the French quarter of Puducherry. Most of all, Veenapani made her personal library available to me, and it was a pleasure to find she was a libertine when it came to her reading, and we enjoyed conversations about writers of murder mysteries who had us in thrall.
It was with regret, therefore, that I read of her passing away last week. On my return home, I skimmed through some of the chapters of my unpublished book on art collecting, reading again the many, many interviews that had gone into its making. One of the questions I had raised at the time was, "What is art?" The provocation for that had come from a review of British-born artist Damien Hirst which claimed that his "pickled sheep and soiled beds threaten to make barbarians of us all".
How had art come to such a pass? Renu Modi of Gallery Espace told me. "When we define art, it is the same thing as when I am asked to define god. When we try to define god, we are limiting god itself with our limited minds. Art, to me, is an experience - one which gives us joy, and also a sense of identification."
"Art is what the artist creates," artist Nayanaa Kanodia said, "something sublime which emerges from the very depths of his heart, where his innermost feelings are painted on his canvas for the world to see, observe and analyse." Mukesh Panika, then with Religare Art, commented, "Art is about something that is intense, not necessarily beautiful, but which moves you, takes you somewhere, kindles or rekindles something in you. It is not about being beautiful, which most people equate it with."
Art collector Anupam Poddar explained it thus: "There are no set rules or conventions that form a guideline for what is or is not considered art in the contemporary set up - one's perceptions are constantly challenged. Everything from painting, sculpture, installation(s), photography, video and film are open to reinvention. Experimentation in, and the reinterpretation of the traditional arts and crafts, is also welcomed. There are so many platforms for artists to explore - conceptual art, web-based and public art interactions, sound residencies - that blur the boundaries between other disciplines and what has traditionally been considered to be art." Modi seconded that: "From a paanwala shop, or a clothesline of a dhobi ghat, to a show of Louis Bourgeois, or a video work by a young artist, it is all art."
And what isn't art? Gallerie Nvya's Tripat Kalra said, "What is not original is not art." For her, "Art must appeal to the finer side of a person, the rest is non-art". Siddharth Tagore was even more emphatic: "What is repeated over and over again is not art."
For this and for all the conversations that were made possible while at Adishakti, thank you, Veenapani.
Kishore Singh is a Delhi-based writer and art critic. These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which he is associated
