Between 1933 and 1944, when the US was in the throes of the Great Depression, the then president, Franklin D Roosevelt, anchored the Fireside Chats, a series of remarkably popular, informal radio addresses broadcast during evening time. Deliberately written in simple, colloquial English, each episode was meant to break down concepts such as the economic crisis, banking reforms, the New Deal and the war against fascism, to name a few, to the general American public. In his 4422-day presidency, Roosevelt delivered just 31 addresses but is remembered as one of 바카라the most effective communicators in radio history.바카라
Perhaps picking a leaf out of FDR바카라s book, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in October 2014, began addressing the nation on Mann Ki Baat바카라a monthly radio address with the stated aim of establishing 바카라a dialogue with the citizens on issues of day-to-day governance.바카라 The programme recently celebrated 100 episodes, to commemorate which 13 artists of international repute put together the 바카라Jan Shakti Art Exhibition바카라Â at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), showcasing artworks created around the pet themes of the Mann Ki Baat programme such as 바카라Nari Shakti바카라 (women power), yoga, sanitation, water conservation, Ayurveda, space science and India바카라s relations with the world.
Predictably, the exhibition ran into controversy, with outraged artists naming and shaming the participating artists for lending legitimacy to what they alleged was a 바카라propagandist바카라 radio programme. Artist and resÂearcher Sandip K Luis, in a Facebook post, even called it 바카라an instance of compromise,바카라 warning his readers of a future where the artworld would function as an oligarchy where, in a twisted version of Schindler바카라s List, the artist would look toward a Tata or a Nadar or an Ambani to save him or her from an upcoming (cultural) genocide. IncidenÂtally, Kiran Nadar is the adviser to the ongoing exhibition, and not too long ago, the AmbÂaÂnis, too, formally entered the artworld by inaugurating the colossal Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai, an event that saw the attendance of some of the biggest names in global art, cinema and fashion바카라as well as Hindu ascetics.
Referring to the works on display at 바카라Jan Shakti,바카라 visual artist Vikrant Bhise, whose works on caste-based discrimination regularly unpack social cleavages, argues that nobody present was showing the 바카라black side바카라 of India. 바카라Who is showing what is currently happening in the country?바카라 asks Bhise, referring to the ongoing protests of the wrestlers against the alleged sexual harassment by BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh. He also asks if the artists are actually taking stands on real issues that matter to the people.Â
The artists involved in 바카라Jan Shakti바카라 are 바카라big names바카라 indeed. Atul Dodiya, Vibha Galhotra, Riyas Komu, Ashim Purkayastha, GR Iranna, Thukral and Tagra, Manjunath Kamath and Jagannath Panda are no small fry. It is important, then, to unpack the issues involved in the politics of art바카라who gets to represent what?바카라by understanding what was on display and why.
Riyas Komu바카라s work at 바카라Jan Shakti바카라, for instance, brings in Gandhi, Ambedkar, motherhood and the Mohenjodaro Dancing Girl together in one frame. Komu uses two wooden legs standing robustly on a structure to portray Gandhi바카라s Dandi march. With different metaphors like the round-framed spectacles of Gandhi to the wooden blocks that contain faces of Ambedkar, Guru Nanak and Sri Narayan Guru, among others바카라the artwork, he claims, interweaves caste, cleanliness and discrimination. The Dancing Girl stands on the wooden blocks that are embossed with the word 바카라mother바카라 in different vernacular languages. In the words of Komu, 바카라Art is a space to archive contemporary times.바카라
But how much of Komu바카라s artwork (oddly titled A Art) actually speaks to our times? Although issues of caste and sanitation are significant to contemporary Indian politics, a visual artist, on the condition of anonymity, points out that manual scavengers바카라mostly Dalits바카라are dying every day while working without any safety gear. So, if Komu wanted to highlight the issue, he argues, he could have done it directly, instead of bringing in disparate elements in one frame.Â
Discussing the import of such artworks, Sandip K Luis argues that touching upon socially relevant issues while leaving the overall content and nature of the work neutral and open to multiple or even mutually contradictory interpretations is 바카라a familiar strategy that contemporary artists often adopt in their attempt to appear 바카라socially relevant.바카라바카라 Luis nevertheless notes that such open-endedness of artworks and its appropriation by right-wing was never as imminent a threat as it is today. 바카라As Hindutva forces get more sophisticated in their operation by seizing state power and governmental institutions, the situation is different. They seem to have realised that it is more productive to co-opt the apparent neutrality of artworks to propagandist ends,바카라 he adds.
The politics of ecology and cleanliness also found an ally in Vibha Galhotra바카라s works that focus on water conservation and show how water resources have been contaminated due to extensive industrial and other forms of pollution. On display is a canvas smeared with sediments from the Yamuna that were collected from the river, meant to give the audience a reality check, perhaps. Her works, both in metaphor and in their constituents, permeate silence바카라where the stagnant water contradicts the very nature of its 바카라flow바카라바카라ironically, the title of her artwork. Galhotra uses ghungru (ankle bells) to portray the meandering river that reacts differently to different urban residues and unsettled sediments.
Also on display was G R Iranna바카라s Kalpataru, a depiction of the mythological wish-fulfilling tree, painted using acrylics on tarpaulin. Red-coloured holy threads were tied to the branches of the tree, to represent a gamut of emotions. Explaining the context for his works, the artist says, 바카라Among every religion, region and community, you can see there are traditions of nature-worshipping. People adorn trees in different clothes, sometimes a dhoti, a saree etc. So, when I thought of connecting to people through art, I wanted to represent emotions through the tree.바카라
But how much of an impact has Mann ki Baat had on the artworks on display? To which Iranna responds, 바카라It is not only our PM, rather, most of the global leaders are now concerned about global warming and the environmental health. The PM even spoke about it in one of the episodes of Mann Ki Baat.바카라 In terms of the impact of the radio show itself, there seem to be contrasting views of its popularity, with a recent study by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) titled 바카라Media in India: Access, Practices, Concerns and Effects바카라 finding that three-fifths of the Indian population had never heard of the show. And the show goes on.
Held at the Jaipur House of the NGMA, the 바카라Jan Shakti Art Exhibition바카라, guest-curated by Alka Pande, went on until the 30 of May, with the PM shining bright by making an appearance at the event and posing for a photograph with all the contributing artists. In the shadow cast by Mann Ki Baat and the controversies surrounding its figurehead, did the artworks lose their sheen? More importantly, do the artists care?
(Edited by Ramya Maddali)
(This appeared in the print as 'In The Shadow Of Mann Ki Baat')
