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It is a Friday morning in Kolkata and the sidewalk outside Gem Cinema on the arterial AJC Bose Road is bustling with activity. Gem is an abandoned single screen movie theatre that was once special to Calcuttans. When you enter it, you expect to see signs of this abandonment. But nothing can prepare you for what you witness as you step inside.
An Indian farmer standing up for his rights. Faces crying for help to battle injustice. A series of missiles being fired in the name of a God with the strains of Gandhiji’s favourite hymn Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram playing in the background.
Gem Cinema, or what remains of it, was one of the venues of the 4th CIMA Art Awards this February, burgeoning with ideas of talented young artists. Most of these millennials—we’ve picked seven of them for this story—hail from small-town India and seem unblemished by politics that encourage you to follow, not think.
“Our 1,000+ entries this year showed a maturity that could only have been kindled by the pandemic,” says Rakhi Sarkar, director and curator of the Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), who has made these awards one of the most respected in the country. “It is satisfying and fulfilling to see that the agenda we had to reach out to the young is being fulfilled. We also needed voices from the backwaters of India, which were losing out. They are vibrant and incisive.”
While the awards were held in truncated form this year due to the pandemic, the top-tier jury, the overflowing audience and the sizeable prize money (the winner, Suman Chandra, gets ₹5 lakh and a show at CIMA), made it a big success.
Most importantly, a walk through the venues showed that independent thinking, the power of expression, and the courage to speak, aren’t dead amongst the youth.
Suman Chandra, 28, Purva Midnapur
“Not East Midnapur,” Suman Chandra corrects me. “I come from a town in Purva Midnapur.”
The winner of the first prize is a true son of the soil whose larger than life work covers almost the entire screen of the erstwhile Gem cinema hall. Suman describes his work as a “coal mine landscape that’s human-made”. He adds, “It’s an ironical representation of development in the world we live in. In the name of development, we are constantly changing our environment and not caring about it.”
What’s the message in your art? “We know what’s wrong, we know the politics involved, yet we ignore it. We should look deeper,” he says.
Must art always have a social message? “Not always,” he says. “But when I was young, I was taught that creativity always holds a mirror to society.”
His take on social media? “It’s an important part of our lives. During the lockdown, we saw the world through it.”
Subhankar Bag, 28, Howrah
Subhankar Bag is a talker. “My work depicts an artist’s journey,” says the Merit Award winner. “At first glance, each piece looks like studio furniture, but when you look closely, you’ll see that the chair is not a chair. It’s artistic ambiguity which I’ve tried to create through a visual language. I’ve called it ‘Afterthoughts’.”
Is there a message he’s trying to put out? “Not specifically,” he says. “But if you notice the tooth-like tusk, the size and use of materials and the negotiation between the objects, you could get a political message and have subtle realisations.”
Is it important for art to convey a political statement? “An artist does not always try to make a political statement,” says Subhankar. “But as a human being, if you are affected by something, it will reflect in your work.”
Is social media a platform or a distraction? “A lot of important information comes through it. It affects our moods and mindsets. So we should use it to our advantage.”
Sonal Varsheya, 36, Agra
The first runner-up is a 36-year-old who grew up in Agra. Each of her 25 images has a poignant story to tell. “It’s called ‘Kissa Goi’, which is a nawabi Lucknowi tradition of sharing kissas (stories) with each other,” shares Sonal. “The kissa closest to my heart is from my childhood. My nana (maternal grandfather), woke up at 5 am and put the Hanuman Chalisa on the radio, so we all had to wake up too,” she recalls. “I remember being fascinated by a peacock teaching its baby to fly. Such memories evoke happiness, but are forgotten today. My aim is to keep them alive.”
Must art always make a social or political statement? “It’s not necessary,” says Sonal.
Is social media a platform or a distraction? “It is very important,” she says. “In the pandemic, it kept us connected. We must use it to our advantage.”
Sayantan Samanta, 28, Dankuni, Hoogli
“I’ve been working on a project called ‘Bhook ka koi maut nahin hota’ for the last three-four years,” says Sayantan, showing us a large dining table laden with food—food made of concrete.
“This is my way of turning the focus towards food security threats,” says the 28-year-old winner of the Special Mention Award who calls his work ‘artistic activism’.
“If I serve you concrete in place of real food, will you be able to eat it?” he asks. “By 2050, the global population will double. Some 70 per cent of it will be urbanised and 42 per cent cultivable land is required to feed that population, which is nearly impossible.”
Must art always have a social message? “Art is a living process. It comes from social circumstances.”
Is social media a platform for budding artists? “For me, it is,” says Sayantan. “It’s a way to share my work, which is important. But then, even drinking too much water can be a bad thing.”
Akshay Maiti, 25, Panskura Village
The second runner-up of the Paresh Maity Award shares a last name with the legendary artist and says that Paresh da was, in fact, his inspiration before he joined art school.
“The truth is I haven’t met him yet. But main unhe bahut maanta hoon, and I hope to see him some day,” he laughs.
Akshay’s winning entry is inspired by his village in East Midnapore. “People from cities come to visit us, but never quite understand our lifestyle. That is what I have tried to showcase,” he says.
Does this mean village life is better than urban living? “Oh no, not at all,” he says emphatically. “Both are good in their own ways, but must see each other for what they are.”
Must art always have a social message? “There are a lot more dimensions to art than that,” he says.
And what’s your take on social media? “Ah, it’s a great way for an artist to gather knowledge.”
Anirban Saha, 35, Kolkata
Anirban Saha created a series of five Quarantine Note Books penning down his observations through the pandemic. Volume 4, mounted on a pedestal at the CIMA Art Gallery, won him a Special Mention Award.
“The book is a fiction-based graphic novel that is a visual narrative of the different situations we faced during Covid-19,” says Anirban.
The message is that nothing is permanent. “My book has an archival quality,” he says. “A hundred years ago, there was the Spanish Flu, which we know little about. A hundred years later, my book could showcase what we went through.”
Should art always make a social or political statement? “Definitely,” he says. “Art is a political tool and can even be a weapon!”
Is social media a tool or platform for young artists? “A tool as well as a strong platform if used wisely to convey a message to society,” states Anirban.
Jaladhar Naskar, 29, Andul Goria
The winner of the Merit Award says he’s inspired by life on the sidewalk.
“What happens on the footpath happens in our lives,” he says. “My entry is a series of crates that are used by street vendors to store fruit. I used to see pigeons make their home in these, so I’ve titled it ‘Shelter-1’. You’ll see these khanchas on streets everywhere.”
The second in his series, he reveals, is going to be the humble “chatai” (or mat) that “protects us from the floor”. And the third one? “I haven’t thought of that yet,” he laughs.
Must art always have a social message? “We must capture and represent today’s times,” agrees Jaladhar.
Is social media a help to young artists, or a distraction? “It depends on how you use it,” he says.
Follow @JamalShaikh on Twitter and Instagram
From HT Brunch, March 20, 2022
Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch
Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch
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