The season of fairs, festivals, and concerts has begun with an inundating and overwhelming calendar. People and organisations are acknowledging the power of art and culture in building a community and establishing networks.
Recently, I had the pleasure of attending the vernissage of Art Mumbai—the second edition of the modern and contemporary art fair, underway at the Mahalakshmi Racecourse in the heart of Mumbai from November 14 to 17.
Walking into the fair, I was overwhelmed to see the number of enthusiastic people present on the opening day. The crowded expanse led to the challenge of enjoying and mulling over art but it also provided the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals.
Featuring works presented by seventy-one galleries, the versatility and cornucopia of art exhibited was evident.
However, my first impression and takeaway was that as artists are going deeper within, there is inspiration being drawn from nature and the environment, from regional craft and textiles.
For example, the Tarun Tahiliani fashion show which concluded the opening evening, is testimony that there is a strong synergy with art, craft and fashion. From paying homage to ancient Indian art with a larger-than-life Nataraja statue and modern Indian artists such as Ram Kumar to even celebrating traditional craft and regional dance through a fashion parade rooted in Indian heritage and cultural extravaganza.
The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) booth has a thought-provoking exhibition. The women artist-only exhibition titled, ‘City and the Sea: in search of the horizon’, invites the viewers to see the city from the gaze of nine artists. Each artist’s tribute to the city is unique, ranging from rapid urbanisation and the feeling of being boxed to finding the horizon, peace, and solace, with the unending expanse of the sea.
From romanticising the city to coming up close to the concrete jungle, there is versatility in the materials experimented with from ceramics, watercolour to gold leaf and staple pins.
The sea invokes a cornucopia of feelings and emotions, inspiring artists to push their boundaries. Art Alive Gallery’s booth has a beautiful display of two works by Meera George. The mixed medium works are an ode to the ocean, highlighting the pressing need to conserve aquatic and marine life. Similarly, Chandra Bhattarjee’s two works are a tribute to nature.
Seeing the works up close, the viewer is privy to the cross-hatching techniques and the beauty of the textures it brings to life.
Ujjal Dey’s artwork, part of the Emami booth, celebrates traditional craftsmanship with contemporary Ajrakh work. A sustainable and labour intensive craft practice of block printing dates back to the Indus Valley Civilisation.
Exhibitions such as these lead to powerful discussions, igniting dialogues on the intertwining of nature and culture and on sustainability, a fashionable word today but the need of the hour. The takeaway from many of these works of art is the importance of craftsmanship and sustainability, but art fairs are not the best advocates for this cause unfortunately.
For example, while stuck in a traffic jam to get to the entrance, I could not help but think about the environmental impact art fairs have especially in a city like Mumbai, which is already vastly polluted. Walking out towards the end of the day, there were the telltale signs of the aftermath of any large event. Whether the effect on our environment and indirectly us, is worth the socio-cultural and economic benefits that it provides is arguable.
While these events are a vital aspect of our community, the perilous state of climate is something we are well aware of. Perhaps this is why art fairs such as Frieze and Art Basel have taken the onus of reducing their environmental impact, with Frieze using biogas and reducing fossil fuel consumption to only using LED lighting at the fair and to even upcycling the carpeting fabric. This radical shift took shape when a report by the environmental arts charity, Julie’s Bicycle, released data on the annual carbon emissions of the global art market. The alarming figures, more than the national emissions of countries such as Greece.
A tentative 70 million tonnes of CO2 is emitted, with a large source of this being from art fairs. While fairs bring together galleries across the world, we must not forget that the same galleries are also transporting priceless works of art across cities and countries.
Art Mumbai too is advocating this cause with pamphlets and booklets having a QR code printed. Scanning this code leads to the planting of a tree by the ‘Tree for Elephants’ initiative.
As cultural events expand and grow in India let us hope that the organiser and visitor are just as inspired by sustainability as the artist is.