Opinion Art and indifference

The paintings,part of an exhibition called Indian Life and Landscape,span the years 1790 to 1927 and are a vivid portrayal of India by three dozen Western artists. There are landscapes and daily scenes,architecture and portraits. There is the magnificent Taj Mahal captured by Thomas Longcroft in 1786. The Golden Temple of Amritsar is stunning in William Carpenter’s 1854 portrayal.

To the current-day viewer,the art provides tantalising glimpses of exotica such as eighteenth century nautch girls,cotton workers and fisherwomen. It offers an intimate,accurate and rare glimpse into a bygone era.

But here’s the shocking statistic: at even Rs 10 for an entry ticket,very few Bangalore residents are walking in to view the fantastic exhibition. NGMA Director Sobha Nambisan said the exhibition was drawing a “100 visitors” daily. This is actually the peak visitor number during the weekends.

The pathetic response for the V&A Museum exhibits at NGMA illustrates public apathy in India towards museums and art collections. Tourist buses line up outside Bangalore’s older art museum,the Venkatappa Art Gallery. But the crowds that descend from the buses make a beeline for the neighbouring Vishweshwaraya Industrial and Technological Museum.

Similarly in Thiruvananthapuram,the lines outsides the zoo are long but the attendance at the neighbouring Sri Chitra Art Gallery is thin.

There is also the matter of how Indian museums preserve and display India’s priceless art heritage. Thiruvananthapuram’s Sri Chitra Art Gallery has a section dedicated to the masterly paintings of Raja Ravi Varma. On a recent summer afternoon,indolent museum staff fanned themselves with books,barely registering the presence of visitors.

Despite the sweltering heat,the rooms displaying the priceless paintings were not equipped even with basic air-conditioning. The humidity and heat have already done lasting damage to the Raja Ravi Varma masterpieces. Some of the canvases are discoloured and others look faded in places.

Meanwhile,the Kerala High Court is dealing with a petition filed by the great grand-niece of Raja Ravi Varma. The lady has asked the court to order a CBI probe into how only 55 of the Raja Ravi Varmas are exhibited at the Sri Chitra Gallery,while 75 paintings had been handed to the gallery by her family. It is a whodunit.

Back to Bangalore,there is a lot to observe from the Victoria & Albert Museum collection at the NGMA. The priceless art,some dating back to over two centuries,is not just exquisitely conserved but also displayed to global standards.

This is the very first international exhibition that has arrived at the NGMA Bangalore,a year into its opening. The display gallery is equipped with gizmos such as the quartz-precision thermo-hydrograph. Temperature and humidity are regulated. The display room is equipped with an air curtain to keep out dust,says Nambisan. The diffused lighting in the display hall has been carefully calibrated to stay below 50 lux. The hall is equipped with the mandatory smoke detectors. The funding for the elaborate but essential preparations has come from sponsors such as the British Council.

The least impressive of the arrangements for the V&A collection is the security,a lone armed state police constable hanging about lazily near the exhibition hall. An apt setting for an international art heist?

saritha.rai@expressindia.com