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Art and the Middle Class! (Part 3)
Through this article series, Satish Naik, Editor of Chinha Art News takes an overview of the changing art scenario in Maharashtra and India with a special reference to the artistic taste of the middle class. This insightful series offers glimpses of various transformative phases of the art world through the past decades till today. In this third part, the devaluation of the Directorate of Art and ultimately the art education in Maharashtra in the last few decades has been reviewed.
It was expected that when a learned artist like Prof. Baburao Sadwelkar was selected as the Art Director of Maharashtra, there would be a change in art education curriculum and stress would be given on writing, reading, and art appreciation. But sadly, Sadwelkar sir’s much of time was wasted in handling the politics in the art directorate. It was all dirty and disgraceful. Taking advantage of this, many destructive forces entered art education leading to a long lasting damage. As a result, the art culture of JJ School of Art slid into an abyss. One still feels embarrassed at the turn of events that took place then.
Everyone, from the ministers to the office peons at the Higher and Technical Education Department took advantage of this situation. (In this regard, the author had many news items in the Mumbai newspapers with all the names and evidence. Not only this, a 350-page ‘Kalabazaar’ special issue of ‘Chihna’ was also published in 2008, in which names of all those involved were mentioned with evidence. One can still read the edition on Chinha’s website www.chinha.in ).
In the post-Sadwelkar era, the Maharashtra government appointed officials as art directors who, if asked the simple names of four Indian painters, would not have been able to answer them. It may seem an exaggeration, but it’s not. The corruption of politicians, private secretaries, and officials of Higher and Technical Education Department and caste politics is the reason why the post of art director has been vacant for the last two and a half decades. It is only because of the successful efforts of former Education Minister Vinod Tawde and other secretaries with the help of the Central Government that JJ School of Art could come out of this mess and get De-Novo status. Finally, it seems good times are here.
The syllabus which was implemented as a new syllabus in the year 1975, continues even in 2023. No qualitative change has been made in it. What was done was only degradation. Many subjects were removed from the syllabus as the directors and teachers of the arts colleges did not want them, thus ruining the entire syllabus for the various courses. What is worse is the people involved are the ones who themselves have not even cracked the elementary and intermediate grade exams. By removing an important subject like Nature from painting, the subject of painting was literally strangled. Taking money from the parents of the fifth and seventh students, the officials of the art directorate did not hesitate to engage even A and B grades in the drawing examination. The result was that painting as a subject was removed from primary secondary schools and colleges.
Every mother initially hands her child a pencil or a colored chalk at the age of 4-5 and asks him to draw a picture. A circle means the Moon or the Sun, if you draw a square next to it, it is a house, if you place a triangle on the square, then it is the roof of the house, the journey of that child begins with painting. But the same mother, when the child is in 4th or 5th grade discourages him from drawing, saying “Why are you drawing? You should study”. This is where children’s relationship with painting breaks and the gap just keeps widening. At homes where there is still inculcation of the values that Art is important, are the only ones who make a career in Arts. Rest study other subjects and make career out of it and gain their place in the society.
With Globalization came computers. There was a class that said, “We do not understand your art.” But with computers it was different. People understood the importance of computers and more and more people started studying computers and other related subjects. People started taking pictures using computers. In fact, the language of painting was much simpler than the language of computers. It was close to every child, yet we just cut it off from our lives.
As a result, we moved away from subjects like painting. In Maharashtra, the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma, Raghuvir Mulgaonkar, Dinanath Dalal were household names and they adorned the walls of common middle-class homes. There was hardly a house where the paintings of the above-mentioned painters were not installed. Even today we can see the remnants of those images in village temples. But the changes that took place in the education sector in the state proved dangerous for all of us. The appointment of cultured and educated people like Madhukarrao Choudhary, who was interested in art, never happened at the post of Education Minister of Maharashtra, and that’s when the cultural fabric of the state started collapsing. Just look at the kind of politicians who have been appointed as Education Ministers in the last three decades, and you will know what has led to this situation.
One can read about the achievements of Madhukarrao Chowdhury in many books. Lalit Kala College, an art college providing higher education in painting, established by him in Khandesh region of Maharashtra, was an example of his talent and efficiency. But what is the state of that art college today? That is the reason why Maharashtra was sidelined from the visual arts field. What is the end of this? Probably, nobody knows. But, if the ruling powers do not act fast and make course corrections, we will have to visit museums and exhibitions to see the art.
(To be continued)
Satish Naik
Editor, “Chinha Art News”
Prior publication: ‘Samatawadi MuktSanvad Patrika’ Monthly, August 2023.
Re-published in ‘Chinha Art News’ with prior consent of the editor.
Click on the link given below, to view Art Education Panel Discussion organized by Chinha.
कलाशिक्षण महाचर्चा | Panel Discussion About Art Education
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