Vrishchik, Year 2. No.2 by Asia Art Archive

VRISHCHII< , J

TRIENNALETTERS (2) .

路

This is our second路 special number on the Triennale affa) r. We a re pub li shi;:lg letters received from va rious parts of India. We a re also publishing names of all those who have signed the card sent by us th rough a special supplement last month. We happil y acknowledge the protest of the artists of D~lhi and Madras, who had met a nd discussed the Triennale affair. Vrishchi k wh ole-hearted ly supports alt artists and others who are figh ting for the basic changes in the constitu tion of the Lalit Kala Akade mi. Some controversy has also appeared in the press. The secretary of the Akadem i an d his sup porters have tlied路to mISlead people by saying t hat the call fo r the boycott of the Tr iennale has gone un-heeded. Il is for the artists o f India to stand unitcd and give an an swer to burcaucrats of the Akademi at this cri[i cal hour. F Urlhermore, whiit is even more i mportant is to make pl an s f or the re~o j m ~ d

national Akademi. We invite artists, art criri cs (lnd others to let us know their suggestion s regarding cha nges in th e constitution and other construcfive p! a ~ s. Vr is!l r: hik will gladly publish them all. Vrishc:, ;k too wil l cont ribute

to the fran, ir.g C'f a rew

c c n stitu t ~ 0 n !!"1

the ncor fut'..! re.

(FollolI'ing {(rtisIS , {(I'i critics {(wi others hal'e sent Iheir sigllatures 0 11 tile card (as prillled heloll' ) selll by Vrisllchik. Their names are primed here ill alphabetical order.)

r have

read th e proposed letter published

in Vrishchik

and I am in agreement with the views expressed a nd you may co nside r me as a signato ry to yo ur lette r concernin g the to tal boyco tt of the La li t Ka la Akademi 's activiti es till a ny basic c han ge is effected in its co nstitutio n and

policies.

Natvar Bhavsar B. J . Bhagat Krishna Chhatpar Ram S. Chhatpar Mansing Chhara Manu Desai Miki Desai D. Devraj Purushottam D. Dhumal Nilima Dhanda Raroon Khimani Jai Krishna K. Lakshma goud P . C. L ittle Nibha Joshi Adil Jussawalla Raghav Kaneria Feroz N. Katpitia Shupen Khakhar Krishen Khan!la S unil Kothari O. R. Kowshik Anand Krishna Arvind Krishna Mehrotra This list is open

lip iD

New York Baroda Ahmedabad Baroda Ahmedabad Baroda Ahmedabad Hyderabad Baroda Baroda Madras Lucknow Hyderabad Lucknow New Delhi Bombay Baroda Baroda Baroda New Delhi Bombay S hantiniketan Banams Allahabad

J l sl Dccemher IY7{).

Damini Mehta Ashwin Mody Nasreen Mohamedi Akbar Padamsee Kailas Pandya Mahendra Pandya A. S . Panll'ar Prabha (Smt. ) Panwar !.,Yi 拢 H i U;:'C/i Hatan Panmoo Gieve Patel Janak Patel Jeram Patel Nagji Patel Vi nod ray Patel P . R. Pochkhana \\' ala S urya Prakash Ramesh Rao N. N. Roy Bhanll Shah Shrikant S hah R adheshya m S llllnlla Gillam Shei kh S. G. Srikha nde 1\ . G. S ubramanyan

I'j""

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad New Delhi Bombay Ahmedabad Baroda Lucknow Lllcknow ~ <4EI ',i'./..l路rrJ'l Haroua Sanjan Ahmedabad Baroda Baroda Baroda Bombay Hyderabad Delhi Lllcknow Ahmedabad Ahmedabad Ahmeda bad Baroda Lllcknow Baroda

New Delh i

S igns or Ht'al th :

12 l\!o v. 1970

Dfllr ,\/r. Sheikh

is illd~ed a health y sign . :\ ny in s tlruti o n to ha\'c g ro wth a nd dY l1a m ~ s m n eed::; slu.tking up from its sto dginess fr o m

r ag ree

wi th the VICWS expressed in the Vris h chik Sup plemcnt dated 10 Nov 70 , a cory o f whkh was sent by ~ a u to me. Howeve r I ha ve heard similar utteran ces from artists before the F irs t Triennalc. \Vhat s urprised Ihe artists comm unity lhen wa s the overni gh L dec isio n of the .'\ kadcm i to app oin t o ne of the bitte rest advocates the

hoyco tt , as a co mmiss ione r for Northe rn In dia, and his im mediate a ccep ta nce o f th e p os t. \~l ho docs n ot kn ow that man y a leader o f the p ro tc:; t meet ing o ffered pa rti c ipat io n an d \\'o n a\\'a rd:; and ho no u rs . I h ope lhat the present s h owdow n ;-!nd protest will n o t c nd similarly. f will se nd my s ignature o n the re pl y card o n rc~eivi n g a

line of assu ra n.:'c .

With bes t rega rds.

That art is ts ca n bl;.· ~tir t IH.~l1lsehe:; and tight for a change

tim c to t ime, and the cob-\vcbs rem o ved, That the y want a n ew co nsti tuti o n is la ud:lbk t ~) I. h~ cxt en t that artists them selvcs arc actively partici pa ti ng ill lh illk ing wha t th ey exp ~ci their in:; t it utioll to d o fo r them ins tea d of

merely criticising . ~)

It will certa inl y ke cp the Lalit Kala Stan'lllOrC

Oil

their

tot::s for mistakcs like the ('xhibi ts nur l\~acll i !1g the Sao Paul o Bie nn .:lIe o r the la~c intimati on to artists rega rd ing the T ri ennak b eing n o t re pea ted. H owcva, is suc h a n ~X lremc S[:.! p. a s th~ boyco tt o f [he Trie nn a le, reall y called for ·? Ii \\c loo k at the total objec ti \'e) thi s m ove of the ~l ni:;t " \\ l lu lJ do mo re harm than

gl)od i n the Ullim <l l C ~\naJysis . I)

R. N. Pasric h a

Th e Tr icnn a le is an int erlli11: o n;!l :lrt

SlhJW

and is in its

in {'~!11cy ,

E\ cry ::In en thusiast in Ih ('. count ry l1eeds to nurture it in \\'a y he o r she can, to sc t: th a t it gai ns in imp o rtanc..:: in the In ter nat io n a! an ..:cnU'es. Th at the nrs{ onc h ad its

C\i..'r:--

2 ~C\\'

i :l1pacl, ho \vever s mall. is

k lll) \\ II

to man y of us.

squash it <:I t its sec o nd attempt by a \\eak Indian sect io n in it \\"ou ld to ll it:; d ('~ th - k l1 c IL I fecI. There wi ll be thc in te rna ti o nal ju ry, comm iss ionaircs 11'0 111 certa in cou nlr ies, an~ we hope imp orta nt c ritics wili be L·o m ing." Foreig n

Delh i.

ncar Shdk h. T he rumbling about t he bo).cutt of the Lal it Kala - ClIll1 T r; cnllJle came fa m y ear s o n ly thr o ugh tile iss ue s of ··Vris!1 c hik / ' Since I feel t hat thi s who le ll1 0v e by th e

cm bassi es will a lso se nd their 0\\, 11 reportS . 11' adverse repo rt s arc se nt , the who le s latu s will be s ) Illuch dimini shed that it may ncve r rC\'ivc again.

rn'lj o rit y ()f impo rt a nt artis ts is going to be detrimental o nly to the cause or Indian an, I thought I sho uld address this gen~ral letter 10 a ll my arti st friend s in st ead tal Kin g

so me of thcm ind ividuall y.

Ltt m e make it d ear that I am holdin g l1Ll brid' for th e Lal it

Ka la Akademi. I have had no oppo rtun ity so far di s(: uss ing this malle I' eit her with the C h a ir m a n , Secretary, any mc m be rs of th e G ove rni ng COll ncil. M y mind h as been set lhi ll~i n g of wiw t is r ight an d wha t is w rong rn t hi s m o ve a nd I p u t J O W Il my th o ug hts for yo u to Qr

,.:onside r as co ming fr om a pe rson who is in vo lved with con tempo ra ry art bur yet is an ·'ou ts ider. " There arc both si gns o f hcnlth and sjgns

I see in the boycolt.

or dea th - knell

t hat

Th e G ove rnm en t is spcn uill g a \(.)t of moncy on thi s

projc([ even th oug h it can iii afTord to . I f l he y lind this att it ude o f ar tists t u rni ng thei r bal'ks, Ihe y might d i sco ntinu,-~ t hc Triennale a lwgcthc r.

Pl ease, I a m a ll ror ,.: ri ticism - but kt li S c riti c ise 10 preserve an d impro ve rather than d estroy. 1f t h e basis o f sck cl ion is again wro n g in it'i seco nd attem pt lhen let lhere be d iscuss io n s and se min ars 1)11 wha t sho u ld be done and \\h at is rhe healthiesl \va y. You h~ d t h ree ye ars in which ro d iscuss ana cr iti cise why the lWl) Illc rh o lls werc all wro ng. \ Vc are still :1 free ~ou nt r;. a nd nobo d y o bjec ts to onc dis...:u ssio n s, but closed d oors. . ."" w hat ca n they .

;-Il·h ic ve '!

1 dare say it is a V~iy ba d slip on the pan or th.: La lit Kab to let t he arti sts k n ow fllat their works arc requ ired ror t he Trien na le at this la te hour. But do the works have necessaril y to be fre sh from the arti sts ' studios? \Vh e re .... l..'r

this is n ot poss ib le. can sold o r

pr~viousl y

exhib itcd \\ o rks

no t bc bo rr owed or re -~xhibited '? Afl\.~r all it is the lotal impact of the I nd ia n sec tion that i~ important ror both [he jury an d art - cr itics, and the rnet that the v·:ork is of the

illmion tlla r

11'('

hare elllc'!'t'd

flit'

illtt'l'IIotioiwl an Irorld . ../1/«'

il ll'oll id he /J/ r;re I/W!/ ridicli lulls 10 .wy IIItH (ba rrillg (I hal/dful of tlte memhl'l',\ l~r I he ./ury ) risilOrs fr o//! f orlligl/ COWIli'it'., 'lI'ill't'OIll e (0 visfl ,/lis iJII(,l'JlUliul/oi Or! ShOll', Ir/Il'1I Ilie/,(' are

hel!er opporflll1ilies 10 I'isil !w!lc/' ill/(,rlwli{ll/{ll exhihiliOlI.\ ill 'Ill' cOHlIlries Ihey Iit'll. W/nll is implied ill askillg file (I/'Iis/s 10 pr('sene

(/1/(/

illl/lrOI'i.

Idlll! l'xists ill lheform of (f l1aliOIlOI . Ikademi is 10 presel/l

per iod 68 Lo 70,

al/ image offalse solidariry /0 !/ie fOl'eigll delegall'.\. Vris/r l'hi/,

In co ncl usion, may I be permitted to point o ut that kL !lor the art is ts follow the .:!xample o f pol iticia ns who s icken One

den/ores the ballalif!' of the

t hese days w hen the y do nothillg but atta ck I::a cll I-,th e r. Let us 11glH for p rogramm es and not light aga in st perso naiit ics. T oda y 's f resh biL)od will be tl)IlWrrllW 5

India. (frliSls will decid£' whNlter".i,fwlI'liol/s righlly or 1101.

s tale b loo d and

c h allg.~

ill_~'l/II

of /he arlisls.·

S/(flt'lIlellf

If Akadellli is

allt/

if does 1101. tll(1' will /i:.:/il again.'>l.

quil e clear lI!mJif.!.hf is

1/01

(,{Il/.H' ill order /0

(/11

I~r

II is {/Iso 10 be made

mar /1(' rcspol/vih/e.

II is a/.w I/o t ofig/ir a/young Irilll oM , hilt is/vI'

You rs si ncerely,

agaillst {Jerso l1o lilics hili agoillsi

Ill e lIIisl ~·orkings .ror Ifhicli persoNalilies

mllst gel o n.

cOllsir/f'fs

m{'al/lfor Ihe arti.Hs

great('/' hring ch(fl1gl!.\·~ ill Ihe COil.'it ilia iOIl which 11'i/1 tI

he /!{,IlLJiciallo (/11 anisl.\· i!'respec/il'£' of age. erel'd and

Khorshed Gandhy,

CO/WI/IIII i 1.1'.

p, S. Kekoo is not in Ind ia. But I kllo\\ tha I he \\ill end orse all that I lla\'~ \vritten.

Mu.!' I (lsk

( Wlim I\li oJ'sht'd Cflllulhy nli,'.",!:'.'·: i,1 Ihe /elCI Iha/ (ll'lis/s (~r Ii/dill hare come 10 ,.eali.~e 11/(11 n(l /'clJ/l'((r or im/JI'o l'('lIIeJII ill t/;e fllnctiofling (!r the LKA is possih/c. They /rare lI'ailcd {III thes{' .rears/or the he llt'r ji lll cl ioll ill,t! 0/ lhe Lalif Kala ( '011](' fro !ll 1!'i11Ti1/. II i.\· Ife lknolrll fhm Ih ost' lI'ho hcc[flJle II/(,III/WI'S I!f /lte Akat/emi ill lite h,,/)(! o/bring ing som(' c/Jallg e 11'{'re rOled ou! hr I/le !II01/0PO(1'-lIu!iori/.r groups oml .lil/dillg

1-.'I/OI'shl'(/ Gal/dlly

(ff

rt'ltIIl.!d

Ihis

iIlSlal/('('

Ihl' illla g,' of Indiall an? W"m was lhe purpose behind soliciting anis rs 1/1 lIIelltiO/i I//tIl /heir Irork.1 lIpprorols of a !lilli/ her included ill 11f(' I .\'/ Triemlllie Il'ere v/J/(li!1('tI ./i·o!J/ or h.l· (,OllrtC'.'i.1' (~r gallery Cltemollid :, '" 'hal lI'lIS 111(' idt!a h~hiJ/(1 c(//lillg all l'sllihitio/l (~r flldiall lin isIS. ill GermallY lI1aillly a-h, ) hclof!g or e.rhihit Irifl! gallNy Chelllollld. {til e.d,ihilion of' In diall (Irl .) Is ,his all III preSelTl' and prnreci ,h(' inlCigt' f!," Indian arl 01' _ _ . :' (i . .\. ) (IS

(lr

1/,(,111-

IJ'/I{II is 1t~/i /0 III!'

selres im:!/'(!C'lil'(, lefl ill tlw d i.\f;U,H . aniSIS

1I (1lIe,Ifillll IV

I'cgol'dillg 1/1(' Iwlity {If tlt eir g a/lcry

of illdill is 10 jJm/eSf m,!oillSI 11Ji,\' /I/OJ/ ()/IO/Y . IFe lIJoo/cd

IIt(' idea l?f hal'il1g ({ {Jarallel ('XlJiiJiliOll, Inl/ orgall isaliofwl

d([ficu/lies and lack (!f/,lIJds made 11.'1 gil'e lip 1I cOl/srruClit'e plan like tha!. II' KllOl'sh('d (/(/}/c/hy f('olisl's t/w! OhOll1 75"" (?f imporlfllll ur/is/s (d' I!ldia 0"(, IUI/ going 10 /Hlnid/lalC' ill /ltis l'xltihiliol1 Il'hiclt Il'ill secl i()11 ill

th e ('yes

I'I'('(I(!!

a lJOol' image (~rJl!dia"

( ~!. ill/aml l hli/ol JI/I'.1'. CO lllllliss ir)f}('I'S 0/

(,(-'I'la;1I cOlfJ1/rics alld ilJlpol'/{/l// arl (';oil in. ' sl/(' or her

gallery CUll 1'10.1'

{/Ii

;111/'urtal1! I'u/e 1Il lhis !Jollr by nrgol1ising

tIIuljil/allcilig all ('.r!J ihiu·,'N f~r Ille Il'ork s (~r (frlist.~ in di:. . \·('III .

This I.-ill also !,rore l!Jut she is I/O! ouly

gu/lery-mrller 1}l1I

is also concerNcd alJollt the hell('/' illlage (~r IlI rlioll an. 1I'1!i"h she has c l:lim ('t/ S(I cO/'l/e5 1ly ill her let/N. /:1'( '/'.1' ar! (,lJIllIIsiaSl k no ll ·s Ilw! Indiun TI';(,lIIu;/(' 01/ fhe Il'Or/d (In Sn'lre is /ll/Iinor. illlor a I/ ('glig ih/c ('l'e l1l .

The .firs I 7i·;c'/lI Ul/{' .

illSp il (' (~f S(,I'Na! gloha/ If/i).\ (!fllle eltaimulII ill (lr/t'ol/n;' , lms 1101 r('rielt'ed. 1/(11' (lCkIlOlr/{'r/ged ill ml.l· imf'nrf{J11l al'l 1JI{I.~a= il1(" is all ey('-o/l('lIi'r /() all thos e' .lIh o art' I1l7d£'1' fh t'

3 rvlad ra s. 18- 11 - 70 Dear GlllulII Sheil.!'ii.

I have been wanting to wr it e t(1 YO li . hut IW\\' the time ha :-; COIllC. wit h regard lO the TriennaL.::. lilcr(; has been a big. nepoti s m p l ay~d by Panikk e r from So uth. As reI' the decisions of l h (; general co unci l an d the sub- Col11tn! !tec of the La li l Kala Akadc111i, New Delhi, th ey s hould have invite d artis ts from among th e list of the Akademi in whk h Na tio na l awa rd winn ers and inter na tio na l exil ib itl ollpart ic ipants arc incl uded. We fO llnd lha t only a r~ .Ianakira m. Ad illloolam . R amall uj::tll'l an d S()!1lC of

Panikker's personal fri e nd s at Cholamandal arc given letters fr om LKA to send wo rk s, ignoring m ore than 20 arti 5ts who qualify th e m se lves for thi s rule. Some of them

[ cou ld under stand if you co uld demand a given pan el a s the

arc Rajave lu , S uriam oorthy, Santhana Raj, A nt hon y Doss ,

Nati onal Jury or even ask for post ponement Cor 3 mont h s of the Triennalc : o r organize a separa te Exhibi ti on of yo ur own, or even orga ni ze a separate art body.

Mlinusam y, T.R.P. Mookaiah , Dakshamoorth y an d others. \Ve plan to have a strong protest aga inst this favouritism . \Vhen we received sub- committee's ( Tri en nale) min utes,

Th ere are so me points me ntion ed by yo u wh ich a re obvio usly unkind and in- correct. O ur Jury has never bee n limited to

in the month of Ju ne 27, 1970, about 15 of us in Madra s and 20 in Kumbhakonam Sc hool of art have protested against th e very nomina t io n of Panikker in th e National Selection COlllmittee, as Z o na l rep rese ntative o r as a 'm ember of the Triennale Sub-conlm it.ee, knowing fully well the

the memb ers, nor eve n publication co mmitee, no r send in g of delegates. If proper suggesti ons ca me, it always had 路the backing. Not that laughable characters have go ne ab road. but s uch fai lures probably arc a part of Ollr Nationa l Scene as a whole.

game h e pl ays. 'W e received a letter frolll the Secretary that no mis-happening will tak e place and he assured that this time it will not bc so. But it is very disappo inting that

Anyway. I do accept Illy portio n o f the blame and responsibility, and I t.hink it \vill be wron g if I desert the

a rti s ts a t C ho iam拢tlldal who do not really qualify them se lves a re called fo r. \-Vh ere is the intcgrity') \Vhat's B~:roda lik e'? \Ve sti ll protest thi s.

R. B. Bh as knran

bocty who is responsiblc fo r the prest:llt m ess, and try to behave p io us and virtu olls.

I only wish that some of your signatories had even put in papers \vl1y they we re resigning. Such a step would have cha!lged ma tte rs cons id era bly. I will p robably not participate in this Tri ennale but for quite ditfcr(:J1t reasons .

\Vitll bes t wishes to you nil.

New Del hi-13

Sankho Ciwudhari

Y o urs sincerely,

20th November, 1970

Dear Sheikh, Tha nk s for sendi ng me the red letter.

l al11 sending 10 Prof.

Slibrama nian , a cO l11pl el~ set of cor r~spo ndell cc I had uplil now wi th the Lalit Kala Akad em i spe..: ialiy with regards to the Triennale.

5 ~o

November 1970.

.1l1路 d!'{l1' Sheikh, Th ere is substantial l r uth in what you slate, but I wo nder th~ step you are about to take is the proper Olle .

Jt is so

easy to wreck a thing, Hnd o nly high - light instances

failures. Afre ralJ, th e ve ry Trie nnalc cou ld not have come abo ut had it n ot been fo r the L a li t Ka la Akadcmi ; and Dr Ana nd deserves all credit fo r it. I was myself against the Trienna!e for reasons of wasting mon ey when we could not either bu iLl ~ tudio s for art is ts Ilo r Slart th e Cent ral .i nstitute

and Museum of Casts - a ll long outsta nding co mmitments

I really apprec iate th e role yo u and YOl!r magazine are playing in givi ng indi vidua l grievances lhe sha pe of a public (lpinion (artists' opin ion s hould be more appropriate term; in fact , t hat is w hat rea ll y matters in th e presen t ca se) on the question of the afrairs of Lalit Kala Akademi, especially regarding th e Second Trie nnal e. I bel ievc th at ctTcc t ivc and active public opinion ca n pla ya ve ry imp orta nt co rrective r ole.

fur lack of funds.

Bu t art: we 110t co n eeillrating all ou r ene r gies on cr iti cism only .'1 Criticisms are necessary and va lid as far as they

I won der if at all any body partic ipates in an Exhibit io n

point o ut the negative aspecls of a situation. If howeve r, we h ave to negate a negative sit u a ti on, wc have to demonstrate

afte r h ear in g of the names of the Ju ry .

b y positive actions th e alternatives which we think arc p roper. This is fr om a left- oriented Bellgalce who knows a littl e bit a bout what negative revoluti o n ism mean s. [ do no t take La[it Ka [a Akademi t o be a d ead h o rse , b ut it is a路 mortall y sick horse. Government seem s to be aware of the sickness and to find o ut th e causes of the sic kne ss it bas appo jnted a Committee u nd er th e Chairmaohip o f Sri G. D. Kh os [a. Why do no t we ass ist in the diagnosi s o f thi s sickness. Vri shchik's issues 0 11 the Triennal c cou ld be sent to the Committee as memorandum . Vri s hchik ..:.ou ld a lso a s k Ind ian arti sts to s ubm it memo ra nd a t o th e CO l11mitt ee. These wou ld be p ositive a c ts of protest again s t t he go in g-o il s til LK A. Boyco tt T ri e nnal e ? we ll , it may be a valid form of protest, b ut o n ly a negati ve fo rm o f pro tes t. Why do we n ot j o in ha nd s to ha ve;} r~a ll y sig nificant All In dia Exh ib iti o n a t t he time of th e "; r ien nal e and dem o n s trat e in ac tion th e val idity of o ur p o in t o f vie w ? It ma y not n ecessaril y be an Exhibiti o n paralic ! t o t he Indian Sec tion o f th e Trienna!e . It may j us t be the All India Ex hi bit io n w here wo rthwhile active Ind ian pa in te rs and $c ulp to rs wo u ld p a rti ci p a te.

\Ve are n Ol aga in st LKA as s ueh, n o t o nl y beca use we as a gro up h ave be nefil ted fro rn it, but al so becau se we think ihat it ex is ts fo r yo u and LI S, but unfo rtuna tely du e to its p rese n t s tru ctu re-it cann Ol f un ctio n as an o rgan ization fo r 'YO li an d us . \Nh a t is, t he refo re, necessa ry is n o t a bo ycott. \Ve s h o uld try i.o bring ab o ut H s tr uc tural ch a nge in t he A ka d e mi from within. Fro m thi s s tandpoint we just c a nnot ask o ur fri en d s a nd co ll eag ues to boyco tt th e T rie nn a le . But we arc a ll for a n All Indi a Exhi bitio n that wo uld d emo n stra te the u t te r banali ty o f LKA Tr ie nnal e ' s Indi a n Sec tion.

I j ust ca nn o t resist th e temptati o n to show vI:hat we ar c up aga in st. 'We are u p aga in st th e so rt of irrc spo ns tbility a nd a uth o rit a ri a n ism o f wh ic h Sh r i K . K. Ht:bbar"s letter is an ex amp le. Shri He b b er think s that OM allegati o ns we re far from truth , hu t h e- has no t ca red to sh o w where a nd in whi ch ass um p ti o n s we were wro ng, n eith e r ha s he ca red 10 reveal t he wh ol e truth. W e m ight ha ve been wr o ng, in fa ct, th e n: a rc rea son s to pres ume th a t we were wro n g in certa in a ss umption s. Bu t we were wro ng o n t hose co unt s o nl y beca use peopl e in auth o rit y like Shri H eb ber never ca red to keep th e a rt is t co mmun ity info rmed a bo ut who t goes o n behind th e closed d oo rs o f Rabindra Bhavan. Tha n k ing y ou Y o urs sin ctre ly, Pran a br a njan Ray

6 Bo mbay- 11 14- 11-[970

Dear friends, L ha ve read ab o ut the rece nt co ntrove rsy regard ing the working of the Lalit- Ka la in ge neral a nd in co nnec ti o n with the fo rth com in g Triennal e in particul a r. After discus s io ns with fe ll ow arti sts in Bo mbay a nd Ba ro d a ! have p ieccd together th e s ilu tia n a nd have d ec ided th at I a m with you in so far as so me d e finiti ve ste p has to be ta ke n to rcmed y a reg rettable state of aR路nirs. [h a ve alread y verba ll y cla rified my stand to yo u a nd r put int o writing , th at unfo rtunate a s it ma y scem , (some sa bo tage of nat io nal p res t ige) co nst r uc ti ve a ctio n, d ra st ic if n ecessa ry, has to be ta ken. Perso nall y, I cO ll no t sa y I have di rec tl y suffe red a t the hands o f th e Lalit- K::t1a , but th e re a rc lim es o ne is com pe ll ed t o act fo r the g reater com m o n goo d. Bomba s t an d fire a nd brim s to ne lette rs a nd speeches are n o t go in g to so lve the iss ues at stake . A coo l anu pr agma tic app roach is an abso lut e mu st. At least a sy no ps is o f yo ur p la tfo r m mu st now be p u bli s hed fo r p u b lic sc ruliny to a vo id lik ely a cc usation s o f ult eri or m otives .

T he s ig na t u re campaign

ha s unfortunat ely ra ised a h omcfs n es t a n d threa ten s to spli t th e 'g ro up' do w n th e l11 :ddle; Eve n an effo rt a t dar ificati o n ma y leap to f urth e r invol vc me nt o f per so na l g rie vances. fn this context I wo uld say t he idea o f a sig nature ca m pa g ian be aba ndo ned so th a t th e orig inal go:,1 may n o t be lost s ight o f in t he mor~! ss th at is a rt p oli li cs in o ur cO lllltry. R egards

A. M. Dav icr wa ll a

7 25 th (N ov. I

Dcor Sheik/;, I have read ~路o ur proposal s in the las t i<;slIe o f Vrishchi k reg Hding ~\ b o ycott o f t he Akademi. My letter to yo u w hi c h you publi shcd m a ke s m y position q uite clear I thi t' ~.: and nothing ha s happened s in ce then wh ich Would m !~~. ~ me alter m y views. Some o f us have rec路::ived invita tions

Ill:

from Lalit Ka la Aka d ~mi to se nd 3 pailll i ng ~ ( pres u mably

T he Ma dras art ists \\ho jo in in

fur selecti no bcca u se 1 c an no t bel ieve that th e Lalit Ka la

Bhash karan , C. O ha ks h i na moo nh y, R . Vara dh a raj an, T.R .P

Ak ademi \v ill p ut up all :.1 o f each i!l vitC'c) . I am al so 41w are th at th e A kad e mi ha s a skcd ot he rs to s ubmit th e ir

Moo ki a h, L. MlInli swam y,'" C. J. A nth o ny ]) 05S."S. K.

p ai nt in gs fo r " p oss ib le" in cl u s io n. Il h a s there fo re o p en ly ma de d isti nc tio ns betwee n a rti s ts -- a so rt o f ca s te syste m

~' A .

acco rdin g to w hi c h so me get in d irec tl y while o thers have to be screened. The o nl y thin g w hi c h is imp o rtant is ig n o redt he wo rk a n arti s t. It is ca sie r and m o rc c o n ven ient

10 draw:up a li s t o f eminent IUI路mes (eve n if th eir a c hievem e nt s a re 20 years o ld ) [han to concern th e m se lves with e min c n t wo rk . F o r my part, I. refuse to b e a party to s uc h a hieratic sys te m and prefer t o stand o Ll ts id e and b e

~;(prcssio n

are: -

Raja vc)u ::'K. M. Adimoolam. ':'S. Dhanapal, ':'S. Murug csa n. P. Shamhan a raj , R Krishnara o A Al p hon so e tc. Almos t

all o f th ese ha ve o ne o r t he other req ui si te capa c ity

participate o r to s u b mi t wo rk fo r th e Tri e n nal c . ~r h e D elhi Akademi ha s in o ne s trok e comple tely fo rgo tte n the se nam es.

As J a s ked one o f th em wh y Delhi fo rge t these nam es 1 wa ~ told tha t thi s is a part of Nati o na l Integrati o n pr og ramm e so that by omitting us a go o d sl iee of artists cO lllmunit) th ~ so lidarity will be m a inwin cd by D el hi ve ry well. Ga ndh i is n ot a live. Neh r u al s o so . If they sec this plight ala s, th e) will imagin e wha t a great c hange ha s taken pla ce in thi ~ Bharath a ll of a s udde n. I am on e of th ose w ho is ha ving all legitima cy t0 place my protest. De lh i akadem i toda y is

co n side red an arti s t like a ny o th e r. Yo u rs

nothing short of a o ne man sh ow to sa y " beha ve o r be hea ded.

1<. (ri shell ) K hanni.1.

\Vc arc mee ting

2-12- 1970 nnd we shall pa ss r t!srduli nn f ro m th is e nd and su b mit the co p ies. to a ll co n cer ned a nd copi es t o o u r zona l M Ps and M LCs a s we ll a s the

0 11

Educat io a l Mini s te r in C entral C abinet a nd s ll ch o th er V.lP s who will onl y understand th e gre at h oax pla ye d by D elhi gro lJP a handful o n the wh o le o f India.

Madras.3. YOli mu st kno w th a t D e lhi ha s in vit ed a han d ful o f \'~ry ft: v. in th e co untry t o s u b mit work to th e /I T r i. a s in vitees- in oth e r \\lord s the work s will not be put t o an y st:le c tion. I d \)

30- 11-1 970 Dc(/ /' G/llllaill S heikh ,

no t kn ow ho w thi s co lour bar can be en te r ta ined w he n May I wish yo u a h a ppy R a m za n Id M.u barak . Bu t th e exc it e men t ge ts th e morose a s I im agi ne th e happen in gs th e rest o f t he a rt isls co mmunit y a rc equa ll y good !wo rking pe o p le b ut s ubj ec ted to a f ilte r. \Ve a rc spl it a nd tha t is with regard to th e Seco nd Ind ian Tric nn a lc in D el hi. You w hy th e Wol f at th e gate e nj oys knarlin g his tee th. On a rc awarc th e happe nin gs . T he on e man s tro ng a c ti o n

;\S

" I wil1 d o as I like- yo u mu st

o b ~y

a nd yo u hav e n o say".

a Ui t ude of Ce ntral Akad c m i is vc ry muc h d iscouragin g us. I 11;).v',:: see n yo ur lette r to yo un g pain te r R. B. I3ha s h ka ra n . YO LI a rc p erfec tl y r ig ht ind eed. I d o n ot k now h ow fr o m Del hi one can ch an a li se th e fa te nf art m ov-.: mcilt so tha t o nl y vested i nte res t good gel th e bcs t a nd t he res t t o s u ffe r

a t th is cos l. So m e h ow th is " Wolf" a t t he ga te wa s sme ll ed by my co ll cgll c and myse lf as earl y a s ab o ut three m o nth s back a nd we w ro te f rol11 he re t ha t \\ '~ may e xpec t o nl y bad treatme nt fro m Ce nt re a nd in s tead shou ld be lef( to th e Zo n al re p rescnta tives lo ha ve th eir say a nd cve nlu <.!.i! y D elh i ca n pool th e bes t from th e l'o un try for t he a mbiti o u s II Triennalc. AI ..,s ! The swo rd is o n o ur nCl.: k no w. 路fil e

2- 12- 1970 we sha ll pa ss o ur reg re t reso luti o n a nd s hall pO:"i! to yo u al so . Y o u can j o in u s. I ~o ll cl Lld e to sflY t ha t \\\.' arc ~lO l s ub m ittin g an y wo rk to Deih i for a ny ce nso r scree ning o r s ti c h ac ti vity by D e lh i sa ints. pe op le and workin g people. Pl ease co nside r th o ug h it l:o mcs fro m o n e good confere nce. ill yo ur s ia nd t ha t yo u \\路 ill n Ot d es is t from

W e ;, rc g oo d my It:tte r a s P lease be s l ron~ th e d csc isio n

th a t yo ur grou p wll l nol jo in in han d wit h D elhi 's t ri c k. I am se nding a co py of thi s le tt e r to arti sts in D elhi. B (l m ba ~ . ~lnd Cal Clltia o nl y to mak e tllem know o ur s tnnd . l. et li S. ha ve goo d Bharath a nd kt:ep t h..: wol ves o u t.

Yo urs si nce rl y,

R. Kr is hna Ra o

woo ing fr o m Delhi as to say " t he Zu n al re prese ntati ve " will \lnl ) c..:o ll ec t and n o [ select " a nd sllc h jargons fo r the Secrctar y:s lette r buj\t i n th e s u spici on more ;H1d toda y ... 1 Lhe g<.ltc we stand to lo se by a ves ted intcn.:st gr o up.

*Ar t islS wh o are called fo r sel ec t i ~n anti w ho are boy~ott i ng .

9 3-12-70 Dcar .\l r . (i lilam S/lt'i/" /l.

;\ 111 aware of (he Tric !lll a le affai rs and th e tat c ot" th e ~\ ka d eD1 i aftt:r 16 yea rs. I ha\'c seen yo ur letter writt en to

~1 a d ras .

\I r. Bhaska ran and f must co n gratlllal ~ yo u for laking a big effort to save Indian integrity a s part of til e painters in rh is i.路 mlnt!"y. I co uld o nl y imagine that th e who le affai r is a p:t rt ial and favo urin g intima te fri ends who agree with them ( th e Zonal Rep. and Akadcmician s ) in th eir policies l sla te t hat th ere is no lo g ical thi nkin g with the so-called

3- 12-70

Tr ic nn a lc s ub- co mm itte e me mber s ('o r ins tance t he ,\k ad emi ill\ ites a rt ists to inte rn a ti o nal e xhibiti o ns by nOlll lluning !1ilmeS and aski ng ror t heir recent 7 o r 8 wo rk s (0 be c;\ hibil cd abr oad w ith o ut an y selectio n. O nce an art is t .:.!xhi biLCd like that pro ve s t o the r\kademi that he is goo d to be invited , b ut stran ge with th e same a uth o rity, th e 'nclllbc rs w ho p !a y th e importanl gam路.,: in the A kad e mi a rc L)I'g~ ttill g thi S. and L'a lling such participated 3n isls to :-. ubmiL wo rk s for a selec tion for the fo rth co min g (assum ing) !' ric llilat e sli c h is the ca se or Reddappa N aidu, Anthon y D os:;. R. Varau ha r;'lj,ln A. P. Santhanaraj etc . \Vh o is p lay ing Ih e toss ing gam e, in the 1l<l11lC of Akadcmi and ",:o nlcmpo rar y rnd ian a rt ? As sta tcd by J. Swam ina t han it is t he so-caJJcd tw o g ro ups : Bo m ba y HClldrc- Hebbar gro up ~lIl d t he K. C. S. Pannikar- Ranu MlIkhc rj i- Sliltan Ali gro u p. { Panllikcr is the l:ause fo r th e co mpl ete clos urc of rhc \ l adras Stale Akadcmi )- It is a ra ise publ icity thaI he c reales m o vcmcn l: in th e Ilame of th a t he runs a fa lse & mcn .trtists villase fo r fo reign grant, fo r promoti o n o f batik craft. H o pe we prove o llr .:ich'es as paintcrs and n o t a s pla yers of

Deor ,Hr . Gil /alii 5,''' l:' il\ lI,

1 alll glad La kno w th ro ug h Y( IUr ma g t ha l the ti me has for rea l pro tes t agai ns t th e b ig mo no po ly of th e Lali t Kal a Akadc mi. l , F or o ne sta nd fo r t he boyco tt of the T rie nn nk a s o ne of th e s uffe re rs a nd vic ti ms. As per the T ric nlla k 5u iJ- co ml1l ittee5 ' mi nutes I 0111 o nc of { h os~ who have received th e N at io na l A wa rd and 'I am so rr y to s ta te t ha I I h:1\'C no t been ca ll ed lO "i uhm it my wo rk s where-a " ~n l1d agopa l who jl., a ~t ud e n t s till a t (he G OV l. C o ll ege or Arts find Crafts, Madm s ha s hee n <:a lI ~d ju st hecau se he wo n the N ~路l ti on al l\ ward fo r th e fi rst sculpt ure he ha s and hct ppen s to he th e ,o n o f K. C. Panik e r. Second ly Mr. P. V. .J!ll1 :t kira lll has !l cc n in vited to give wo rks, a ss lim ing {hat he had e,'\ hibilcd hi s wo r ks :ll the First Triennale an o th er ..,c ul pto r T . R. P. -ivlonkaiah who c'\ hibit ed his ... culp l urc in the la st Tr ic lln a lc ha s becn co mp lctel y ig no red . R. Va rad ha raj an w ho ha d hee n invii.:d to take part in t h ree intern atiollal ex hibiti ons by th e Akadc mi had bee n com ple tel y ign o red. so is K. S recni Does this mea n tha t t hey are no t Iwving a n y relati vcs :-I s members o f th e A kad cm i o r Ihey a n~ no morc ar t ists. am to ieform you th a l th e ~ladra ;;; a rti st.;; a s a wlw lc excepting t he so ca ll ed a rt ist villager,; und e r pa nikcr ;"I re 1

co mpl e.tely slan ding a W3 ~' fro m t he Tr icnn:d c .

gov t . grant s in th e nam e of art.

Y ours sin ce re ly,

C. D aksh nam oo nhy

S. K. Raja velu .

II Madras

6- 12-70 Deaf Comrade ,

S ub: Trien nalia. I so lemnly endorse with your's c;ollvenan t made against L. K. A. The parochial gro up led by so lemn ess K. C. S. & Co, al monastic qcrics of L. K. A. foes t~ ho nesty and sincerity must be hunted with our arrow o f en-bloc unity a nd new cons tituti o n without retreat.

It is co nstraint for us to thin g La fo rm a o A ll rndia Arti st Association with it s b ranche s in where the Art Instituti on s and State th ere to coverture from prese nt L. K. A. Yours indeed,

S. M uru gesan

12 13aro da.

9- 12- '70 Dear Slle iklt , Th e re is no d o ubt that th e co nsti tution of L alit Kala AkCldcmi ha s to be basicall y changed. Th e Govern m en t sanction for th e Tr ie nn a lc was alread y obtained in D ec . 1970, yet Akadc llli deemed it tit to in fo r m the art ists ab o ut it in Dece mber 1970 ! (T hi s 100, aftc r .nu ch protes t had take n place. ) It seem s that in t he eye o r th e Akademi , in.terest or th e a rti st is of th e least concern. I,t is dift1cult to believe th e po mpou s cl aim s or th o se w ho t hink it worth s pe nding sco res of pu bli c fun d s on holdino su ch internat io na l exhib iti o ns which ma y attract the 0

international audience and improve India ' s image o n the contemporary art sce ne of the world. As such, the imageof contemporary Indi an art , c reated by the official represe ntation of the Indi a n con tingent in the var iolls Bienna les, by th e Akademi, is ve ry poor. This is no t onl y due to the inefficiency o f the A ka d em i authorities but al so beca use of their lack o f interest in these matters. [have noti ced a work o f 1956 by one of o ur welkn ow n painters exhibited in 1962 Bienalle at Venice. At ot her occassions exh ibi ts were badl y displayed with la bel- tags dangling on sc ulp t urcs ! And r need not repeat the famous Sao Paulo ca:;e. ( ,I may o nly add that m y numerOllS inquiries regardin g whether o r not my paintings were exhibited at thi s Bienna le have bee n a nswered on ly this week , afte r month s ! ) Exhibitions in Delhi are o nly vis ited by lhe loca l audience and we d o not expect anyone from elsew he re or fr om abroad except a few members of th e international jury to view thi s Triennale. So Akadcmi can afford to rema in apathetic whether so me ar ti sts pa r ticipate i n it o r not. A lready c ru shed under heavy taxation, anyone wo uld wel come an occassional pri ze, however meagre it may be. ( It is sig nifi cant t hat an award winn er of the poster competiti o n for th e T r ie nn al e gets Rs. 2500/- . whil e nat ion al award wioners get Rs. 1000/- and Triennale award winners get o nly a medal !) An y wa y, the awa r d s o f the Akademi are li ke pri zes o f lo ttery an d add li tt le to the repulatio n of th e a rti s t. It is al so wo rth noti ng t ha t t he work s rejected in th e na t iona l ex hi bitio n are included in the In dian participatio n at the international exh ibitio ns . I\f oreo ve r, an art ist whose wo rk s a re. o ften not c o nsidered wo rt h sh o wi ng in the na ti o na l exhibi ti o ns, ma y be in vite d to be o n th e li s t o f nin e c minent arti s ts o f th e Akadc111i !

I have read th e letter and views published in Vrishchik an d I am in agreeme n't with the m. I hav e decided no t to participa te in th e T r it:l1naie a nd nati o na l exhibit io ns. J yoli Bhatl.

13 Baroda 11- 12- 70 Dear S heikh,

In response to your open letter I am putting down some of my views as below. The La lit Kala Akademi is more and more provin g itsel f to be an institution witho ut any purpose. Ostensibly its aim is to fUJ ther the ca use of art in the co untry. Bu t its 15 yea rs qf existence is sc~rc~Jy ;] rraad reco :-d ~d it can

A boycott. of this exhibition is a necessary drastic step to focus attention on the issues at stake. It is more than evident that the Akademi in its present form is not only irrelevent but indeed redundent with regard to the current art situation. It is therefore opportune to give a fresh thought as t6 why we need the Akademi, what kind of a national body can be workable and deliver tbe goods. There is 'no point in letting tbe dead-horse continue to exist, so no use for indifferent cooperation or silent criticism. Art promotion can never be possible through bureaucratic agencies handled by insensate burea ucrats and prvfessional committeemen. Ratan Parimoo

abo be sa id th at whateve r strides cont?mpn rary visual arts

have taken in the country is inspi te of A!c::!demi's existence and activid es. Tn these years th e Akaucmi co uld have di scovered th ro ugh its experience the needs it could ful fi l and the effective role that it might play. It could have carved out an important nicbe for itself for tiie life- blood of present day art.

The present muddle on the Second Trienna1e, therefore, fits in th e pattern of series Qf bunglings with which we are now mo re than familiar. The Tndian Secti nn in the Tri ennale is not like. an exhibiti on of Indian bandicrafts for a Delhi Durbar of the Empire days where each region has to be represented tbrough regional contactmen, tbat too by men who are far from c onscientious. The Trie nnale could be an

occasion for a survey of what is of contem porary significance. A curious com bination of indifferent art burea ucrats, whimsical' artists. mere writers of exhibition reviews and historians of 'Mini atures' -can be least expected to do justice to such an Âˇundertaki ng . The mode of selection ad opted ' this time is rio t only irration.1 and highly involved but also a retrograde step fro m that adopted in the First Triennale, granted th at there cann ot be a sing le ideal mode of 9ClectiOIl.

Baroda 15- 12- 1970 To The Editor "Vrishchik" Baroda .

I am not going to participate in the sched uled Triennale of Lalit Kala Akademi due to following reasons : 1. Time for sending the works is extreme ly short. 2: I consider m y works subject to "possibl e selection" an

insult since in other internati onal exhibitions ( Venice, Sao â&#x20AC;˘ Pa ulo and 'Paris Biennale,) selection of my works was entirely left to me. I tbink dIffe rent catago rics of selection of exhibits wiII create unnecessary antagonism am ongst artists. 3. If criterion for inviting artists waS to select from the li st of awa rd winners at nati ona l exhibitio ns and pa rticipa nts in internati-onat exhi bitions, I claim ~o have both includi ng

a prize at Pa ris Bienna1e in 1967. yours RiJjn ikan t Panehal

R, N. 15189/69

VRISHCHIK Dec. 10, 1970 Year: 2 No.2

Lino-cut in this number by Magan Soma Parmar

Editors : Gulam Sbeikh Bbupeo Khakbar Address: 4 Residency Bungalow University office compound Baroda 2. Gujarat. India, Minimum contribution to Vrishchik is Rs. 10/-. Advertisements are accepted in the form of space donations. Space donations in this number: Bharat Lindner Pvt. Ltd., Baroda. Dynamo Dileetries., Baroda. Chika Ltd., Bombay. Mercury Paints and Varnishes, Bombay. B. T. Shah and Co., Bhavnagar. M. A. Amin and Co ., Baroda.

Published by Outam Sheikh from 4 Residency Bungalow, University Office Compound, Baroda-2 and printed by A. N. Joglekar at 3-A Associates, 4-5, Laxmi Estate, Bahucharaji R.oad , Baroda.