70 THE WEEK • AUGUST 4, 2019
EVERYONE IS A CAMERA
BOSE KRISHNAMACHARI[email protected]EVERYONE IS A CAMERA
BOSE KRISHNAMACHARIPHOTO TATA TRUST AWARD-WINNERS AT THE PEPPER HOUSE RESIDENCY PROGRAMME, KOCHI
R
ecently, I was part of the jury for the Punjab
Lalit Kala Akademi’s annual awards along
with the brilliant artists Sudarshan Shetty
and G.R. Iranna. Our task was to identify 10 artists
from the 28 shortlisted youngsters from Punjab,
Haryana and Chandigarh. The task was unenvi-
able. They were all of a high calibre, and it was
difficult, even saddening, to choose only 10.
Every artist had personal stories of struggle.
Many came from far away, travelling hours by
train and bus, carrying large and delicate sculp-
tures, paintings, etchings, drawings and sketch
books. Along with celebrating the 10 who won, I
also wish to applaud the ones who did not. The
recipients get 0 1.2 lakh each. This may not seem
like a large amount for art production, but, for art-
ists from humble backgrounds, it would be a huge
relief. For young artists, such
an award goes a long way in
encouraging their practice.
In 1999, I was a student
at Goldsmiths college in
London, doing my master’s
in visual art theory and
practice. Sudarshan and
Iranna, used to visit me
and stay at my little room
on New Cross Road. Iranna
was attending a six-month painting workshop at
Wimbledon College. Sudarshan was in Bristol at
Spike Island artists’ residency, a beautiful place. I
remember his kinetic sound installation of a boat
created like a violin. All of us had received the
Charles Wallace India Trust Award. We used to
spend a good amount of our time at exhibitions
and artists’ studios. It was a very important time
in our life and career. Those days Inlaks scholar-
ships, Fulbright scholarships, the Charles Wallace
India Trust Award and Mid-America Arts Alliance
Awards were very prestigious.
Diwan Manna, chairman of the Punjab Lalit
Kala Akademi, is working hard to activate the
academy and its programmes. He is almost a
one-man army. He was happy to hear about ourresidency and educational days in UK. He keeps
organising talks of eminent artists and curators at
the academy.
There should be more of such awards and res-
idency opportunities for our young artists. There
are a few in India, like the Khoj Artists Residency in
Delhi, TIFA Studios in Pune, the recently opened
Space Studio & Distillery in Baroda, 1 Shanti Road
in Bengaluru and Space 118 in Mumbai, among
others. The Pepper House residency programme
developed by the Kochi Biennale Foundation
(KBF) is another important opportunity.
We have to create opportunities for youngsters
to travel. They have to be able to see exhibitions,
participate in residencies, and have curatorial and
educational mentorship. I am happy that as part
of the Students’ Biennale, the KBF instituted the
Tata Trusts Awards for the
best works at each edition.
It has been given at the last
two editions. This edition,
the jury comprised of the
eminent artists K. Madhusu-
danan, Deepika Sorabjee
from Tata Trusts, and myself.
Students’ Biennale sees the
work of very good young art-
ists from art colleges across
India, and to choose three or four recipients from
around 100 projects, curated by six experts, was
again difficult.
The awards allow the winners to travel to major
exhibitions like the Venice Biennale and docu-
menta, and also also receive residency opportu-
nities at the Pepper House programme in Kochi.
These are occasions where they can be exposed to
contemporary artistic practice, meet artists and
curators, and also see masterpieces at museums
and important collections. The residency awardees
also get time to explore their practice in differ-
ent ways. Like it was for Sudarshan, Iranna and
me, I hope this will turn out to be great learning
experiences for these young artists. An award is a
recognition, a patronage and an encouragement.An award of opportunities