For me, exploring the culture of India naturally included its much talked about contemporary art scene, so I’m making a geographic, thematic and time leap from the Dravidian temples of South India to contemporary art and art support in Bangalore and Mumbai – my next two stops.
When The Gods Came Down To Earth – still from filmmaker Srinivas Krishna’s installation
I have been exposed to India’s contemporary art stars for a number of years at various art events and through publications, but got much more involved last year while at Art Dubai. Not only did the art fair and Dubai have many galleries showing art from the Indian subcontinent, but I also had the opportunity to visit Indian expat collectors with wonderful contemporary collections.
Adding a dimension to my immersion in the art of today was seeing a rare collection of artistic and historic breadth, that of Jane and Kito de Boer who collect Indian art from the early Bengal period to the late 20th century, tracing the arc of India’s history from the colonial period through the modern independent era. Their curator Robin Dean’s overview was a great introduction to my explorations this year.
After flying to Bangalore from Chennai, I had some unexpected business in Los Angeles to deal with which cut short my time to discover the contemporary art scene in this city. However, I didn’t miss the main reason for going there: meeting the highly respected young collector Abhishek Poddar.
From being the scion of a prominent business family, to director of the family business dealing with explosives, tea, shipping, and then to ardent art lover and collector, 41-year-old Abhishek dons many hats. His personal interests lie in art, photography, design and architecture. Currently, he is the joint owner of the Tasveer Galleries, a pan-Indian project that he started four years ago to exhibit photographs and to promote photography as art.
This is where I saw Karen Knorr’s India Song, a series of carefully crafted photographs that explores the past and its relation to India’s contemporary heritage sites across Rajasthan.
Gatekeeper - Karen Knorr
Following tea in Abhishek’s art and design focused elegant offices we went on to his wife’s lifestyle boutique “Cinnamon.” Radhika Poddar, its aesthetic guardian, ensures that the craft traditions of the past successfully meet contemporary design for the new-wealthy consumers.
Prices are high even by American standards, though I found that to be the case across the board in India, from hotels, restaurants, fashion boutiques and art galleries, to basic small-town craft stores; all catering to a growing middle class and its growing purchasing power fueled by the strong Indian economy.
There is a lot being said and written on the consumerism boom that has been witnessed in India since the economy was opened up in 1991. 20 years after the country abandoned its Soviet-style, centrally planned economic model, embraced capitalism, and jump-started economic growth, its economy is thriving, its growth second only to China’s.
The Wall Street Journal last week quoted data from McKinsey & Co. showing that the number of households in the highest-earning income bracket, making more than $34,000 a year, has risen to 2.5 million, from 1 million in 2005 (but the ranks of those at the bottom, making less than $3,000 a year, also have grown, to 111 million, from 101 million in 2005.)
India boasts 69 billionaires — a near-tripling since 2008 – and its four richest are worth more than the forty richest Chinese combined.
At my next stop in Mumbai I saw (only from the outside!) the most expensive home in history, anywhere. Built by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, the 27-story skyscraper cost over $1 billion.
The “billion dollar home”
Named Antilla, its design is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects. Atop six floors of parking, Antilla’s living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators. Among its many amenities are a ballroom, movie theatre, a cold climate room dusted by man-made snow flurries to escape the Mumbai heat, a four-story garden, and three helipads. And with a wait staff of 600, no desire will go unfulfilled.
Mr. Ambani, 54, runs Reliance Industries, the oil, retail and biotechnology conglomerate that is the largest private sector enterprise in India. He is the first non-U.S. citizen to join the board of Bank of America. His younger brother, Wharton-educated Anil Ambani is the fourth richest Indian with a personal wealth of $8.8 billion, behind Mukesh Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal and Azim Premji. He recently became one of the biggest players in Hollywood due to a joint venture worth $825 million with Steven Spielberg.
The Ambani brothers’ Shakespearean feuds after the death of their father, Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani in 2002, threatened to de-stabilize India’s economy. Their mother brokered a de-merger in 2005 which gave Mukesh control of oil and gas, petrochemicals, refining and manufacturing, while Anil took charge of electricity, telecoms and financial services.
The aesthetic vision and deep-rooted philanthropy of Anil Ambani and his wife Tina Ambani, a successful actress in Bollywood movies prior to her marriage, have combined to form an important art collection and a non-profit foundation that represents their support and commitment to art practice in India today.
“Art is an experience, not an event – it is a process, not a product. Art is an inner journey.” – Tina Ambani
In 1995, well before the surge of global interest in modern and contemporary Indian art, Tina Ambani created Harmony Art Foundation to provide a platform for emerging artists in the subcontinent and build bridges of understanding with other cultures and artistic perspectives. Many of today’s prominent artists started their careers at Harmony, including Jitish Kallat, Anju Dodiya and Atul Dodiya.
I had the opportunity, and pleasure, to meet Preeti Ambani, president of Harmony Art Foundation, at a luncheon in Mumbai. She generously offered to drive a couple of us over to the Reliance ADAG coporate headquarters to see their superb collection of modern Indian masters like Souza, M.F.Husain and Tyeb Mehta.
Art in the Reliance ADAG offices |
Two works by Satish Gujral in the boardroom |
An understated, knowledgeable, generous, and very pretty young woman – who navigates Mumbai’s horrendously challenging traffic like a New York cabby – she explained that Harmony organizes annual non-profit selling exhibitions and India’s largest annual private contemporary art show. Over the past 13 years, it has showcased the work of nearly 1,500 artists—at different stages in their careers—and attracted over half-a-million visitors.
More significantly, it has nurtured emerging talent, generated awareness about Indian art, and simplified the acquisition of art by creating an enabling environment for artists and collectors to connect.
The Foundation promotes international collaboration holding residencies that link up Indian and international artists, and offers support for non-mainstream art forms in sculpture, environmental art, installation, and video. Other current projects include reviving old Warli tribal art in the Indian state of Maharashtra and fine Pichwai paintings in Rajasthan.
To be continued:
Art and culture tour of India- Part 6:
Contemporary Indian artists and the art market
