Art Concerns

In this paper presented at an international seminar on museum discourse held in Korea recently, noted art critic and curator Sushma Bahl argues that museums could be a heady mix of culture, commerce and socio politics in today’s multicultural context, that can function both as temples of learning as well as piazzas that make ideal meeting grounds.

Introduction

Sushma Bahl

Scanning through contemporary global context one is struck by the diversity and polarity of perspectives and the panoramic view of the world that it presents. How do the museums and art institutions that are perceived as mirrors of society react to such a complex and ever changing context? What are the museums all about in today’s context? Are they repositories of our national pride for the authorities to wave their flag from, or a collection of precious antiquities that the elite and the learned can indulge themselves in, or a record of history for the masses, or a learning resource for the young, or an entertainment tool for the various publics or a tourists’ attraction to bring in more revenue?

This paper is an attempt to reflect on the current prevailing situation firstly to sketch the scene and review the roles of museums in their historical context, secondly to examine the contemporary global context including the challenges and opportunities that mega international art events present and thirdly to explore the way ahead.

Conventional Concept of Collections

The Cambridge Dictionary Online defines museums as “places of study, buildings where objects of historical, scientific or artistic interest are kept, preserved and exhibited”. Seen earlier as temples of learning, a shift in their focus began with changing times as museums started to follow more structured management and funding policies in pursuit of inclusiveness in some of the more globalized cities.

Though wise men of the east have been known to build their private collections since time immemorial as reflected in numerous royal treasuries of Asia and elsewhere that are rich in precious artifacts, locating art works out of their natural habitat into museum precincts presents us with a paradox in countries like India where art and culture are an integral part of people’s social fabric and everyday existence. It not only marginalizes their creators but also turns living objects into glamorized relics devoid of their true spirit. But things have changed and a wide range of museums and collections dot India just as in other parts of the world and we have museums of art, science, natural history, ethnography, music, rail, transport, military, religion, philately, archaeology, royal museums, folk art or craft museums, contemporary art museums, film museums and textile museums to name just a few. Some of these are specialist interest collections while others of global or national or regional or local importance. There are small museums and big ones, real and virtual.

Shifting Paradigm

The global order and map has undergone an unprecedented change in the last couple of decades. Triggered by an all pervasive penetration of information technology, new media, democratization of the world, opening of economies, changes in patterns of communication and travel, museums and their functioning have also taken on new roles and looks from temples to piazzas.

While they continue to be the torchbearers of the national pride, with their focus on collections, history, research, scholarship and exhibitions, there are several other roles that museums are obliged to assume now, as catalysts for education, entertainment, resource mobilization, communication and creative hubs. Issues such as what constitutes or passes as an art object to merit a place in a museum, how do works by contemporary artists and/or their poor cousins the craftsmen fit into the museum precincts and should the visual emblems of a different dimension and interest such as new media, digital and video art or cinema be treated as significant artifacts to inhabit alternative museum territories- merit a serious discussion in this context.

It seems more pertinent today for museums in countries like India to re-establish their relevance in society and make a concerted effort to become more accessible, interesting and inclusive by turning their focus on education and learning. Training and equipping museum professionals, teachers and students to learn from material culture of past societies, arranging short-term courses on ‘Art Appreciation’, taking museums to public through mobile exhibitions and locating museum corners in community centres, schools and colleges, arranging audio guides and audio-visual screens, bringing out high quality and reasonably priced books and publications, cataloguing the collections, holding workshops for children, guided tours, seminars and lectures for the public, introducing innovative schemes such as friends of museum are some of the many important tasks that a museum needs to focus on. It is equally imperative for them to include the needs of special interest and differently-abled groups into their planning and programming.

Given that visitor satisfaction and security is equally crucial, museums also need to monitor and improve the display and lighting of the exhibits and care for visitor flow, comfort and enjoyment including well managed shops, merchandise and cafes that also bring in some revenue. Various other income generation plans and collection policies are pushing the museums to become more business like and invest in market research and evaluation. Technological advances and easy world-wide internet access facilitate documentation and maintenance of museum collections that are now reachable at the click of a mouse while they also add to the fun for the visitors both virtual and real. Information about exhibitions can now be disseminated more easily and widely into people’s homes. International networks, collaborations and outreach programmes are other realities accessible to museums today while the architectural settings for new museum buildings or their extensions are designed to fit in with the museum’s strategy, plans and requirements. The management structures including governing councils, trustees and advisory board members are invited to add value and help maintain some autonomy, even for some of the state run museums, while friends of museums and volunteers programmes bring in the city and the citizens as involved stakeholders.

International Creative Fields & Futuristic Routes

Several Asian countries have now entered the arena of big blockbuster international art jamborees. The biennales and triennials hosted by Korea, China, Bangladesh and India, jostle for space in the global hall of fame to compete with their more established competitors in Venice and Brazil as well as art fairs held at Basel and London amongst others. We will take a closer look at a couple of such international art expositions to try and understand if these events impact on our arts institutions such as museums.

The Indian Triennale that takes place in Delhi every three years is a manifestation of the country’s wish to play host to creativity from around the world. Managed by the Lalit Kala Akademi, the national academy for visual arts with funds provided by the State, the participation is invited from around the world and routed via their diplomatic missions and cultural institutions. The XI such event for which I was the Guest Director was held in January- February 2005, attracted around 300 original works of art by 167 artists from 34 different countries. Spread across 4 venues in the city and juxtaposed together with creative works from across India, it turned into an art fair and a viewfinder that presented the visitors with glimpses of contemporary global artscape. It was a platform where numerous artists and experts from various countries and different parts of India converged together to see, soak in and study original works of art from around the world on display at this platform. Several wrap around events that were organized around the Triennale included guided walks of the galleries, lectures, a seminar, art camps and workshops, meetings and media interactions as well as an Art Mart that helped make the event more inclusive, interesting and useful for the participating artists, the rest of their fraternity and the various local and visiting communities and interest groups. Art Mart set up in a specially designated and designed area in the lawns of the Lalit Kala Akademi’s own premises, was an innovative self funded initiative involving public private partnership that provided an additional parallel forum and scope for more Indian art from around the country to be shown via a more open galleries’ route instead of the official channels. This brought the visiting and local artists in an interface with each other as well as with various national and international curators, experts and media to explore the possibility of future collaborations some of which have in fact taken off successfully.

The other case study relates to the Biennale International Dell’Arte Contemporanea at Florence, of which the 5th in the series was held in December 2005 at the majestic medieval Fortezza da Basso one of the city's premier venues. I participated in this big art expo in my dual capacity as a member of their large international advisory committee and the Guest Director of X1th Triennale-India, together with the Secretary and the jury of the Indian Triennale. Very different from it’s more renowned neighbour the Venice Biennale, entry to the Florence Biennale eventually gets restricted to those international artists who are able to afford to pay a hefty entrance fee to claim some fifteen feet of exhibition space to display their art wares for a ten day show, in an area jam packed with art works and people vying for attention of fee paying visitors who throng the exhibition not only to see the art works but also to network, make deals and have a drink in their busy bustling bar set up in the middle of the show! It is a private enterprise by two Italian businessmen brothers Piero and Pasquale Celona, with some grants from the city authorities and commercial sponsorship. The professional expertise and leadership so far has come from the American scholar and critic John Spike. Florence Biennale is believed to be the largest artist supported exhibition in the world that attracted 768 artists with about 5000 art works from many different countries speaking different languages and representing different cultures some in their ethnic costumes to create an extraordinary bazaar atmosphere.

The 50th annual St. James’ Court Art Show held recently, aimed to expose people to an enriching experience of contemporary art through a dazzling display of an array of art works. It was reported to have been visited by thousands of people who crowded Old Louisville streets to take in the hundreds of vivid, colourful and exotic displays, including paintings, sculptures, dolls, decorative objects, handmade scarves and mobiles. The event is reported to have given 700 artists, both local and from around the country and abroad, the opportunity to showcase their work in a large venue and helped the participating artists meet the public, sell their wares and also interact with other art practitioners.

And there are museum exchanges, loan exhibitions and international touring shows that also offer opportunities to both the host museum and the lending institutions for sharing of information, academic exchanges and learning about best practice. Henry Moore Foundation regularly sends works from its collection for exhibitions at lead museums and art galleries that have covered Hong Kong, Delhi and Singapore besides other world centers that have attracted much sponsorship. Such self-funded and mutually beneficial projects help build trust while well managed and suitably funded art expositions in the hands of capable artistic directors or teams help international arts networks to flourish.

Some critics however insist that international projects and mega art expositions of this kind are nothing but showpieces that provide a conduit for a subjugation of art with little creative freedom and its blatant commoditization with crass considerations of price, profit and promotion as the prime objectives of their promoters. The purists also argue against all politically motivated diplomatic endeavors that depend on state funding and control and they are equally vehement in their critique of any commercial enterprise calling the shots. In fact a very vocal group of artists and curators have got together in Delhi to set up a working group to organize another art block buster biennale that they propose to run in tandem as a private artists’ led initiative with the aim of seeking a more open platform. How this is to be funded and managed, only time will tell. Also any organizing committee or group is bound to have its own subjective preferences that might colour the agenda with those in agreement playing a more dominant role to the possible exclusion of others whose views differ from theirs.

A word of caution also comes from those who see internationalism and modernization as veiled attempts and synonymous with homogenization and westernization where alien cultures of the more advanced nations instead of influencing or being adapted or absorbed are enforced to uproot and indiscriminately replace the local and home grown cultures more suited to a given climate and needs.

How does it all relate to the museum culture that is the focus of our enquiry? Such art expositions share a relationship with museums as producers, presenters and promoters of art. The way these projects are planned, managed and funded to turn them into inclusive and interactive events on an international scale is something worth investigating for our enquiry. The display arrangements of varied types of art works in a multi layered visual imagery including some paintings and sculptures along with conceptual work, installations, video and digital art as well as performance based art that relish the temporal existence of the creations, are some of the things the museums can take a lead from. The way international producers expand, engage and educate audiences for their events, arrange the display, lighting, captioning and cataloguing of their art works, manage the spaces, finances, publicity and marketing of their exhibitions, calls for a detailed study and analysis.

Summary

The resurgence of global interest in the civilization and museums of Asia with its vibrant contemporary art scene offers us both opportunities and challenges. While the artifacts need to be shown widely, we also need to ensure their preservation for the posterity and ourselves. There is potentially an expanding civic role for museums working in tandem with all their stakeholders, officials, communities and publics in this fast changing global scenario. The challenge seems to be in matching the realities on the ground with the rhetoric of change and equipping the concerned staff to deal with the enormity and pace of change. New and ever expanding demands that they are expected to meet, requires commensurate pay packets and a degree of autonomy as well as regular in-service professional updating, study tours and training together with scope to outsource special projects to other cultural production companies and experts.

A heady mix of culture, commerce and socio politics seems to define the form, colour and quality of museums required in today’s multicultural context, that can function both as temples of learning as well as piazzas that make ideal meeting grounds. Museums that offer their visitors formal and informal education and enjoyable experience can help them see history unfold to understand the past that shaped the present that would inevitably help them deal with what lies ahead in the future.
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Notes:

Sushma K Bahl, MBE is an independent arts consultant, writer and curator of cultural projects based in Delhi.
This is an abridged version of the invited paper she had presented at the Asian Art Criticism Forum 2006 entitled ‘Task and Prospects of Art Museum Management in the Era of Paradigm Transition’
The international symposium held in South Korea in October 06, was supported by Gyeonggi-do and Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation, and organized by the Korean Art Critics Association to celebrate their Golden Jubilee and to mark the opening of Gyeonggi Provincial Museum.

Photo credit: Amit Pasricha.

JohnyML + Dilip Narayanan initiative