6 minute read
Art as a Lifestyle: An Interview with Tarana Sawhney.
| Terracotta, 6th century,
Gupta Dynasty
Art as a Lifestyle
An Interview with Tarana Sawhney
"I think art is integral to your living space. Just like you need furniture and tapestry, you also need art. Moreover, collectors of art should ensure that they feel a connection to that work, and live with it. Art changes the atmosphere, the surroundings, the mood, and the very way you live in your home. Art is a lifestyle."
by Akash Puri
[ Photography by Mohit Yadav ]
| Nandi, 12th Century, Hoysala Dynasty | A collection of antique porcelain vases from China and Japan.
Contemporary vase from Pols Potten in the foreground
“My maternal grandfather took me to exhibitions once a week when I was in school. We would go to flower shows and museums, and I would look forward to the times that we would look at art, because that’s what I found most exciting.”
It is unsurprising that Tarana Sawhney, collector and patron of art—and one of the biggest names in India’s contemporary art ecosystem—credits a childhood revolving around creativity as setting the foundation for a future so deeply embedded in art and aesthetics. The defining moment, she recounts, was viewing the Padshahnama, a collection of intricately illustrated manuscripts written by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Sawhney also recalls her days of studying in Philadelphia; a visit to Barnes Foundation, one of the largest private collections of impressionist paintings from the era of the first world war introduced to her the concept of a private collector, to the idea of someone buying and curating art according to their creative sensibilities.
While Sawhney—who has undergraduate degrees in law, classical music and history— admits that her initial artistic impulses originated from, and were strongly rooted in antiquity, she finds that over the years she has developed an increasingly intimate relationship with contemporary art. What originated in a passion for engaging with and collecting modern artwork, and a keen eye for aesthetics has now transformed into a formidable effort to help keep the artistic ecosystem flourishing.
Sawhney co-founded FICA, or the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art in 2007, in order to help emerging artists to better navigate the world of art, by providing assistance with residencies, awards, grants and other logistical issues. With Sawhney’s efforts, it has now blossomed into a foundation that works very closely with organizations like the Kochi Biennale Foundation which is responsible for the Kochi Biennale, the largest contemporary art festival in Asia. It also has the
| The Mountbattens & Nehru by Henri Cartier Bresson (1948)
| Hand painted
Caledonian Vase, 18th Century,
Thailand
We need to see art as a force that is integral to us as a nation in forging a sense of community Tarana Sawhney
| “Red Nose” by L N Tallur. Wall work by Raqs Media Collective
strongest Patron’s program for a foundation in India.
Much of Tarana’s work in art philanthropy is anchored in a strong sense of responsibility towards representing Indian artists on an expansive scale, and she feels her relationship with art itself has transformed, over the years, from that of a collector to a patron to someone who is passionately involved in representing and promoting India’s artistic talent on the global stage.
As part of the South Asian Acquisitions Committee for the permanent collection at the Tate Modern, Sawhney helps acquire modern works of art from South Asia. Her contributions have also led her to become a part of the International Council, where she works closely with the idea of conceptualising art on a global scale. Sawhney considers Tate’s approach to acquisitions as one that honours diversity and inclusivity, and which brings into conversation the question of how different stories from different parts of the world fit in. “An institution like the Tate museum gets a large number of visitors from all over the world, and the scope of the exposure that it can provide to Indian artists is just incredible”.
Much of Sawhney’s efforts have focused on a push for recognizing the immense soft power that India has. Back home, it is her fifth year as chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry or CII’s task force for art and culture, and Sawhney has a clear outline of the guiding principles that inform the work it does. “I look at the relationship between public and private when it comes to art—and hope that the two sectors come to work closely together in the near future. It is important that we generate a sense of community, a sense of pride in what we have, and think about how to speak our rich language of culture to the new generations, and how to inculcate a love for the art with them.”
The task force worked on representing India’s national pavilion at Venice Biennale in 2019, an initiative that was supported by the government, and Sawhney proudly proclaimed, one of the first collaborations between the public and private sector of its kind. It was hailed as one of the top ten pavilions at the festival.
Sawhney’s strong convictions about the healing power of public art also led to another project: My2020 Hero at the Chennai Biennale, a digital photography project that brought together people from across the country to come forward and honour the unnoticed heroes of the pandemic.
What are the biggest hindrances to Indian artists, and what can non-art patrons do in order to support the medium? Sawhney emphasises that, first and foremost, we need to see art. “We need to see art as a force that is integral to us as a nation in forging a sense of community.” To Sawhney, it is essential that the younger generation
| “Portrait of a Dealer”, canvas by Atul Dodiya on the left, a set of Edward Wormly chairs, “Fences” by
Harina Hashmi in the centre and a 19th century Pichwai painting in the background.
get involved in the art ecosystem—appreciating it and understanding how much of a vital life force it can be, for communities, for systems, and for social consciousness. Patron programs at FICA help in doing this by curating personal experiences—like collector’s visits and private visits to ateliers— that might allow people to engage with art.
It is, however, a slow process, riddled with administrative inefficiencies. There is a necessity for legislative change, Sawhney admits. When the laws are “archaic and tedious”, she says, it becomes immensely difficult to allow Indian art to be showcased abroad.
A philosophy that honours the role art plays in the larger discourse, and one that recognizes how art might shape, transform and heal communities means that Sawhney’s ideals naturally manifest in the spaces of her home too. Looking back at the art that she, and her husband, Tarun Sawhney, have curated for their home over the years, Sawhney noticed that most of their collection leans strongly towards the contemporary. Sawhney is passionate about representing contemporary women artists from India, and the works of artists like Arpita Singh, Bharti Kher, and Zarina Hashmi, who is a personal favourite, don the walls of her palatial Delhi residence.
While Sawhney’s efforts to inculcate a love for the art in her two children have been mostly fruitful, she also believes that passion for art also has a lot to do with an innate disposition. “They’ve grown up in an environment where they cannot avoid art, so when the time is right I know they will take it seriously. I’m still waiting for the day when they say: Hey mom, there is an art exhibition in town, will you come with me?” she laughs.
| Tarana and her husband, Tarun Sawhney
