Art for cause’s sake

Nonika Singh

Art is activism. — Angie Thomas

Artists might be in a minority, art by itself may not have the capacity to initiate policy change yet whole bunch of artists are as driven by the cause as their passion for art. They may not ditto Angie’s thought verbatim. Yet art for cause’s sake is certainly their credo. Take bohemian artists Jiten Thukral and Sumir Tagra. The two have always let an issue determine artistic language. From materialism, globalisation to problems of Punjabi migrants, and more recently, the plight of farmers, very little seems to have escaped their artistic radar. For they sincerely believe, “An artist’s voice must be heard too.”

Theirs is heard and seen in multiple ways. The message of condom use is written on flip-flops (slippers) that become part of their Put It On campaign to enhance HIV awareness. They delve into the grand Punjabi obsession of immigration to foreign lands by showing a huge dining table flying off. Flying Houses (the Punjabi Baroque style of keeping up with Joneses) mirrors in yet another project comprising paintings. Crass commercialisation, brand culture, their artistic lament finds many shapes. Deliberating on the Game Theory, their art practice is interactive and interdisciplinary with multimedia works hogging the show. 

Artist Veer Munshi whose oeuvre encompasses photographs, videos, installation and more elucidates. “It is this liberation of an artist where you no longer have to be born a painter and die a painter. Rather you can experiment in different mediums which helps one to both engage with the viewer as well voice one’s concerns.” 

Born in conflict-ridden Kashmir and having faced exile from his home-state, for Munshi personal is political and vice versa. He says, “Unless you engage you can’t create art and there is a thin line between engagement and activism. It’s not knowledge that makes art rather experience is the key.” 

Having returned from the Kochi Biennale where he curated a project on Sufi dargah (shrine) posing telling questions on Kashmiriyat, he deems, “What an event like Biennale does is it creates a culture of viewing.”

But do people pay more attention when an artist speaks? Munshi feels, “Artists are anyway in minority. What we have in India is the Kumbh Mela culture where politicians, cricketers and filmstars draw crowds.” Yet he insists that whether politicians can find a solution to the Kashmir impasse or not, artists can certainly try.

Gurugram-based activist artist Arun Kumar HG believes that art has the power to become both a talking and rallying point. Hence, he does not merely confine himself to creating art that generates awareness. Part of projects such as I Am Gurgaon, he firmly believes in being the change he wants to see. He also opines, “Art is no more religious propaganda or for visual pleasure alone. It is increasingly moving into the space of activism.”

Indeed, a significant aspect of arts is to pose a question and not necessarily give answers. In their talk show accompanying the exhibition “Farmer is a Wrestler,” Thukral and Tagra raised as many as 100 questions concerning agrarian crisis. But their concern is not just confined to art as they are making significant contribution to an NGO as well.

Vibha Galhotra, whose artistic heart too beats for nature, feels that it is important to not just make art but also ensure it creates an impact. If environmental degradation is a harsh reality the job to draw attention with the urgency it deserves doesn’t rest with environmental activists/ ministry alone. So, on the one hand she delves into the issue almost as if she was preparing for climate change summit, on the other, she is part of many initiatives such as SOUL (Sustainability of Urban Living.) Often she is plagued by a doubt whether she is doing enough. Currently working on life on Mars, she does admit that often reading scientific data can be daunting for, “I am not a scientist who understands the semantics of science that well and translating the same into my artistic practice requires both skill and imagination.”

Ultimately, it is the inimitable language that sets the artistic community apart from others taking up cudgels. For Munshi, the biggest challenge is how to translate his pain and his ideas on Kashmiri syncretism into visual language. How do you bring content in sync with one’s idiom is the crux for him. Kumar HG, who uses recycled plastic bottles and caps to create works whose message is obvious, agrees, “The idea is, to bring in magical realism and find a balance between aesthetics and issue at hand.”

If Munshi creates coffins using Kashmiri craft to drive home the tragedy, performance artist Shweta Bhattad gets into one herself to express her empathy for distressed and indebted farmers. Art for her is a tool of social change and, like Kumar, she too works with communities, farmers and villagers through a community art project named Farmers Haat. 

Of course, finding a market for cause-related works that are not just pretty pictures is easier said than done. Institutional support becomes all the more crucial. Kumar, however, adds, “Art doesn’t stop whether there is a market or not.”  According to curator Bhavna Kakar, “It’s not just the profile of artists that has changed but so has the buyer’s, especially of collectors, who are more than keen to understand from where the art is coming from and what is the artist’s philosophy.” 

Art is the message… or message the art? Both. Galhotra insists that in a world teeming with images, there is little need to add to the already full bucket and the age of merely creating spectacles well might be over. But she doesn’t feel one kind of art is superior than the other. Only as more and more artists are stepping out of their cocoons, refusing to be an island unto themselves, expect more and more art and artists to be one with the cause they espouse. Whether they carry activism on their sleeve or like celebrated artist Shilpa Gupta prefer the term ‘everyday art’ to political, the artists may not have yet sounded the bugle. But they are certainly ready to initiate more than a conversation and go beyond art for art’s sake.