A part of your upcoming show deals with the theme of Partition. Are youtrying to educate those who weren’t there, or is there a larger project?
A retrospective exhibition attempts to put together an artist’s work fromits very beginning to the time when the event takes place. It is like anartography that guides the beholder in following the artist’s journey,providing clues to the changing topography of the artist’s life. I had chosenthe tragedy of Partition as my first theme not just because it coincided with mydebt as a painter. Time and again I have tried to explain that the Partitiononly provided me with a theme to express my personal predicament. I believeexternal events, however important, cannot sow the seeds of inner compulsion.For me it is the other way round. The phase of Partition paintings cannot beextended because I cannot be the same person again. Even if such horrific eventsoccur again, which indeed they continue to do—I need not remind you of theSikh holocaust of 1984 or the events in Gujarat just a short while ago.
On a related theme, according to you, is the political aspect of artsomething that isn’t stressed enough anymore? Would the ‘progressive’movements of the mid-twentieth century survive in the present? Or is the presentmove away from an overtly political stance a good thing for art and artists?
Art and politics may never cease to mingle with each other. The progressivemovement of the 1930s and ’40s was the peak of this synthesis, although itlargely remained confined to literature and could not make any foray intopainting or sculpture. In the short span of its existence, the progressiveartists’ group (PAG) differed in its concepts and agenda to its literarycounterpart (which believed in giving expression to local issues with a leftleaning perspective). The PAG, on the other hand, was formed to make a breakwith the conservative art trends then in vogue within the country and introducepopular elements of Western modernism (which was progressive in its aestheticbelief, but not in its intellectual pursuits). Witness the birth ofnon-objective art in the West at a time that coincided with the birth of theprogressive group in Bombay and Calcutta. But with the exception of Souza, therest of the clan later returned to seek their salvation in indigenousmythological themes.
The rebirth of the modernist movement is in fact a welcome development as it ismore rooted in indigenous kitsch.
The political element is there, is alive and makes an appearance in the work ofa few of these modernists.
How has the Mexican master Diego Rivera shaped you as an artist?
I don’t deny my being ‘shaped’ or inspired by Diego Rivera and otherMexican masters like Orozco. The phase was however short-lived. I went to Mexicoat the end of 1952. Prior to this, my encounter with the works of the Mexicanmasters was pretty faint. It was during my stay there that the influence reallytook root. But it did not last longer then two or three years after I leftMexico. Observe my paper collages and drawings executed in the early 1960s andalso my ceramic murals (I returned from Mexico in the late 1950s).
Does public art appeal to you?
I pioneered muralism in this country. But my enthusiasm for murals was shortlived. I soon began to realise that a mural, being part of architecture, cannotinsist on a separate identity. Further, I came to believe that a building shouldbreathe with a single man’s lungs otherwise a mural cannot integrate into abuilding, remaining only a cosmetic decoration. It was this realisation thatmade me dabble in architecture myself.
If earlier I had believed in bringing art to a public space, I now believed inmaking a public space a work of art.
Have you seen the murals in the Metro?
The murals in the Delhi Metro are a sad testimonial of how in the wronghands even drops of nectar can turn into a deadly poison. Without appreciatingthe dominant architectural space that a Metro station is, its artworks werehanded over to amateur students in the name of economy. It is like administeringan adulterated medicine because it is more affordable.
Has the corporatisation of the art market effected the quality of art that isbeing produced these days? If it has, has it made it better, or worse?
The art market seems to have been fully overtaken by the rules that governthe share market. Rigging, hype and all else is turning art into a commodity.Its effect? Negative or positive, it depends on the capacity of the individualartist. I may only say that patronage in the wrong hands is more deadly thenneglect no matter from what quarter it may come.
You are also noted for the buildings you have designed over the years. Youobviously have an opinion about Delhi’s changing topography. Could the rash ofbuilders’ flats coming up in Delhi have obeyed a more cohesive aesthetic? Oris there no need for one?
Architecture in Delhi is becoming more and more a mirror image of the page 3culture, shoddy and rootless. Like birds shape their nests around their bodies,older societies built their architecture to embody their cultural aspirations.What legacy will present-day architecture leave for succeeding generations? Wehave forgotten that just as a man’s nationality is recognised by his characterand appearance, a city is also identified by its character and appearance, whichsays who it is, where it belongs. Going by this rule what Delhi stands to berecognised for is a poor cousin of the Emirates.
Are there any new buildings coming up in Delhi that you think are worthy ofspecial mention?
There might be one or two good buildings that are coming up, but sadly theyare lost in the confusion created by the jungle of formless building. Like in asociety drowned in corruption, it is difficult to point out a man of integrityeven though more than one may exist.
Architecture, by its very physical presence, effects human beings like no otherart form can. Painting, poetry, music—it is possible to avoid all of them ifyou so wish. But you cannot ignore architecture, whether you are inside it oroutside.
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Are there any artists whose paintings you would like to own?
Rameshwar Broota is an artist whose work I would love to own.
You’ve written about your own attachment to Lahore before. Would you liketo take this particular exhibition to Lahore?
Lahore never ceased to fascinate me. I owe to it whatever is creative in mybeing. Of course, I would love to have my retrospective there, which at 80,which I have just crossed, is like my last hurray. But alas, circumstances willperhaps not allow this wish to be fulfilled.
This article originally appeared in Delhi City Limits, January 31, 2006
