The Art Talkies

Professor Kathyrn Myers decodes Indian art for her Connecticut students through 60 video interviews with celebrated artists.

Kathyrn Myerss class in the University of Connecticut has art enthusiasts,graduate majors with engineering or pharmaceutical backgrounds,Indian-Americans and graduate students from India. Myers,who has been teaching art for over 24 years now,decided that a mixed class such as this needed separate teaching methods,one that would ensure that the subject reaches their sub-conscious. She teaches Indian Art in Popular Culture. A lot of the reading matter that was available to my students was critical material written about Indian artists. I wanted to figure out a way where they could learn about the art from these Indian artists directly, says Myers.

In 2011,with a Fulbright Scholarship,Myers travelled to India to catalogue the work of over 60 artists. The only element missing from my class was the voice of the artists, she says. Myers decided that video interviews would be better than writing a book because tone,expression and one-on-one interaction is far more effective than the written word.

After having travelled over 30 times in six months to India,she selected 60 artists including ceramic artist Vineet Kakkar,photographers Dinesh Khanna and Waswo X Waswo,and painters Arpana Caur,Arpita Singh and Jyoti Bhatt. Most of my selections came from gallery visits and magazines, says Myers. We are shown two 13-minute videos of her interactions with Kakkar and Khanna at The Attic on Wednesday evening. Myers confesses that its a work in progress and the artistic comments that the two have made,make up for her poor videography skills.

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Kakkars video begins with Hindustani classical music,and we immediately realise that Myers has taken her cinematic responsibilities very seriously. Kakkar is known for ceramic interpretations of the Himalayan landscape. The video moves back and forth to his artwork. What stood out the most were a series of ceramic rocks or Sutra Stones with Buddhist prayers inscribed on them,which are presented on red velvet pillows. The presentation is similar to the Sikh tradition of placing the Guru Grant Sahib on a cushion to read, says Kakkar.

In Khannas video,we notice a folder titled chai recipe in Myers laptop. We cant help but share a laugh over her fascination with Indian culture,one which is noticeable in her detailed questioning of the artists. Myers came across Khannas sardonic column in a city magazine and decided to profile him for her series. Photography is my way of exploring the two Indias urban and rural, says Khanna. He speaks about his Incredible India campaign,which celebrates 350 years of the Taj Mahal,and his use of bright colours against the backdrop of the pristine white monument.

Our curiosity about her students response is predictable. I teach my class every fall,and last year,when I had only a couple of videos ready,there were very strong reactions. I made them write what they learnt in the form of term papers, says Myers.

Currently,she is editing videos for her classes next year. We cant help but wonder if she wants to make this a full-fledged documentary about Indian art. Unfortunately,I dont have the time or the skill to take this any further,but never say never, she says.