Robert Bosch Art Grant - 2010

This is a call for applications toward the Robert Bosch Art Grant - 2010.

Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions (RBEI) once again invites proposals from individuals for the Robert Bosch Art Grant 2010.

By art, we mean categories spanning a broad spectrum of activities that include performing and visual arts like Painting, Sculpture, Music, Theatre, Dance, Photography and new media. We attach importance to projects that broaden public access to the arts; we seek to extend individual art practice to bring it to the social realm. We are particularly interested in assisting promising talent that falter only because of financial constraints.

Who is eligible?

Artists, less than 30 years of age.

Place of residence – in and around Bangalore or Coimbatore.

Application guidelines:

Applicants should submit a detailed proposal containing the following:

1. Brief description of the background and context of the issues being addressed by the proposal
2. Overall goals, specific objectives, and rationale for the proposal
3. Description of the anticipated outcome; its value to society
4. Description of the activities to be funded
5. Detailed budget, including any funds anticipated from other sources
6. Proposed duration of the project
7. Portfolio of recent work (on CD) and any other supporting material. RBEI would be unable to return any material accompanying the proposal.
8. Biodata of applicant, with contact details

General information:

1. Proposals may be submitted in any Indian language, including English.
2. Proposals could be from individuals, or from a group/organization
3. The duration of the project may be 1 year or less
4. The minimum and maximum grant limits are Rs 25,000 and Rs 5,00,000 respectively
5. Grant awards are determined by an objective process of evaluation, and the decision of RBEI will be final.

Timetable:

Applications should reach us before April 31, 2010. Grant awards will be announced on or before June 15, 2010.

Applications and all other communications should be addressed to:

Robert Bosch Art Grant, C/o Ms.. M.A. Acharya, 123 Industrial Estate, Hosur Road, Bangalore 95

(Information courtesy Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions)

Promoting the crafts

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Most of the time, we are so involved in discussing and promoting the fine arts that we often forget those hundreds and thousands of craftsmen and artisans who create folk and tribal art, handicrafts and other hand made products. Making such products requires a tremendous amount of skill and hours of labor, and financial returns are low. In most cases, the skill and craftsmanship is passed on from one generation to the next, but because economic viability is poor, the newer generations prefer to opt for alternative sources of livelihood.

Madhubani, Pithora, Warli are just some of the folk art forms which can be used in interiors to decorate walls either through mural paintings, or smaller framed works which can be hung on walls. Incidentally, there are many corporate spaces which have integrated folk arts and crafts in their décor – either as a small mural on a cafeteria wall or as bright paintings that liven up cubicle spaces. As any form of support from individuals or organizations can make a huge difference in the growth and sustenance of this sector, proposals that address this need must be encouraged.

In this context, an initiative by the Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur, which is organizing an event Saamanjasya 2010, deserves a mention. The forthcoming three day event aims to bring various key players responsible for social and economic growth together through a series of programs from 19-21st March. During the event, artisans will participate in Kalakaar Vikas, a program which will provide a platform to artisans to display their crafts before a large audience. This is being achieved by tying up with an NGO called Saarthi, which deals specifically with the welfare of artisans. Other plans include presenting the cause of these artisans before corporates, setting up meets for funding and providing technical expertise wherever possible. Overall, it seems to be a good initiative which could greatly benefit the artisans who are participating in the program.

However, it’ll be interesting to see how the proposals translate into action and what kind of monetary and other support artisans can gain from this venture. As a prototype the proposal has its merits, and if it works well it can be replicated elsewhere on a larger scale to include a greater number of affected people. As we all know there is an urgent need to focus on the revival of traditional arts and crafts that are on the decline, and corporate involvement can make a huge difference in the overall development and sustenance of indigenous crafts of India.

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)

Colours of Celebration by Sakti Burman

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Sakti Burman is celebrating his 75th birthday in style. An exhibition of limited edition prints titled The Complete Collection of select paintings produced by the eminent artist in the last two decades is being showcased. The serigraphs have been produced in collaboration with Lavesh Jagasia from The Serigraph Studio.

The veteran artist born in Bidyakut, which is now a part of Bangladesh has been living in France since the mid 1950s, but now spends a few months every year in New Delhi. He recalls that the life of an artist was not so easy in those days and when he went to Paris in 1956 to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, he did not know anyone and his paintings helped him to build bridges with others in a foreign land. He says, “I too veered towards the great masters in the early years and fell under the influence of Bonnard, Matisse, Chagall and of course Picasso. Just to stand before their canvas was to experience the unreal. It was so far removed from my life in Bidyakut.”

Looking at his paintings his Indian roots are easily visible – the rich earthy palette, a profusion of mythological figures and an air of romanticism that define his canvas. However, when one looks closely one finds figures from Greek mythology and other western influences. His paintings are a pictorial narrative, a joyous celebration and a confluence of iconic characters from across the world that form the tableaux as they narrate the tale. He explains, “All my excited enjoyment of art in India and in the West that lay stored in my memory and in my unconscious, all the myths and fairy tales, legends and lore I had heard or read, my love for music and the songs of Tagore or the poetry of Baudelaire – all went into the making of my paintings to evoke a world of unreality, but one very much real in my imaginative life and enlivened in every part with hope, joy dream and fantasy.”

Why serigraphs? As Lavesh, an avid art collector turned publisher explains, the primary reason for bringing out a series of limited edition prints was to make art accessible to a larger number of connoisseurs. With prices of paintings becoming so high, the only way to reach out to people is by offering them multiples that have been created with an emphasis on quality. He adds, “the ambitious project has taken almost 5 to 6 years to complete and in a sense it is a virtual retrospective with seminal works from the artist’s body of work coming together in a single portfolio.” The exhibition is being held in several cities such as Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Kolkata, as well.

(The exhibition continues till March 10 at Gallery Sumukha, Bengaluru)

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)

Traveling shows are a good idea

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

Nowadays, it is common to see art shows traveling from one city to another. As more and more art galleries come up in different cities across the country, collaborative efforts are on the rise. This, in fact is a wonderful way to increase exposure to art - it benefits not only the artist but also the viewer and of course, the gallery.

Multi-city exhibitions are now the trend rather than an exception. Cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai have become part of the art circuit. It is especially useful when bigger artists exhibit their works in metros and then these shows travel to smaller ones. In fact, many art shows are traveling not only within India but are also going abroad to places such as Singapore, New York, London and Hong Kong. For instance, a retrospective of artist Surya Prakash began in Hyderabad and has already traversed Mumbai and New Delhi and will soon arrive in Bangalore, before moving on to Munich, London and New York. Similarly, to mark the 75th birthday of Sakti Burman, a show of Limited Edition Serigraphs will be showcased in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, New Delhi and Kolkata.

The entire process also proves beneficial to the prospective buyer or investor, for instance, people who are particular about physically seeing an artwork before making the actual purchase now have easier access to the art. And, although the logistics of organizing art exhibitions that have to be physically moved from one place to another can be challenging and collaborations with other galleries may not be simple, overall these efforts are good for the art market. On the other hand, most of the bigger galleries now have their brunches in different cities - both within the country and abroad, and for them it makes a lot of sense to carry their exhibitions from one place to another. As a buyer or investor one can subscribe to newsletters or information on forthcoming shows, to keep themselves updated about exhibitions that they are interested in and which will be available in their city in future.

(Published in Financial Times)

The year that was

(By Nalini S Malaviya)

It’s that time of the year, once again, to look back, reflect and evaluate how the art scene progressed through the year. Art activities unfolded quite hesitantly this year with most of the auctions showing average results, while some fared very poorly, as well. Although, during the art summit, sales picked up but then became sketchy once again during the later months. Fortunately, the last Saffron Art auction which happened a couple of weeks ago, performed really well under the circumstances. The highlights of this year in terms of auction reults have to be the exceptional amounts fetched for works by Jogen Choudhury at the Sotheby’s auction and Manjit Bawa at the recently held Saffron Art auction.

In Bangalore, the art scene was quite diffident with very few exhibitions being organized by galleries. On the other hand, there was a phenomenal rise in self sponsored shows with many self taught painters exhibiting their works at rented spaces. Incidentally, most of the bigger artists preferred to defer their shows until next year or at least to the later part of this year.
In effect, one came across a lot of poor and average quality works, and repetitive ones by the same painters. Still, there were some interesting works for instance, digital collages by Sudarshan Shetty, photographs by Atul Bhalla, Gigi Scaria, Vivek Vilasini, installations by Sakshi Gupta and a few other group shows with a list of artists too long to mention here.. Interestingly, the art activity was quite feverish through the year even though sales in the primary market were practically nil. While, some galleries have started reporting an increase in sales (where buyers are primarily from outside Bangalore), others are yet to see any noticeable difference.

In a way the recession helped in putting things in perspective, for instance many artists realized the futility of compromising on quality, or how over production could lead to a lowering of their market worth. During this phase, most speculators lost a lot of money as many had hoarded art in order to create an artificial demand and to inflate prices of a few select artists. Also, investors who had bought art blindly on the advice of unscrupulous galleries and dealers, learned their lesson, albeit the hard way. One hopes that the experiences that one went through during the lean period will help buyers and investors in the future to be able to make better judgment when it comes to art.

(Published in Bangalore Mirror)