When Complainants turn Accused

I spend a lot of time with artists and I listen to their talks very carefully. Of late, I noticed one thing- there is a set pattern in most of their talks. For my readers’ knowledge I will categorize them like this: 1) Conversations around their own works and the forthcoming projects, 2) Discussions on fellow artists’ works and their projects, 3) International art scene and the Indian contemporaries’ place in it, 4) Serious debates on the works (of fellow artists) they genuinely dislike, 5) A bit of bitching, 6) Talks on their recent pleasure trips and the brands that they have purchased, 7) Digressions to real estate value, 8) Quality of liquor and wine, 9) Critique on art criticism, 10) Grave concern over the lack of good art journals and publications in India. And what they don’t discuss are: 1) Their families, 2) Their private hells, 3) Health problems, 4) Auction prices (they take it casually or they pretend to go casual on this), 5) The reasons for not having enough good art publications in India.

As the editor of a reputable online art magazine and also as a writer in other art journals, publications and catalogues, I often wonder why the Indian contemporary artists (they are my contemporaries too) always complain on the dearth of art publications! All those occasions I ask a few questions to myself: Do we really lack good art publications and journals? By talking in front of an editor and writer like me, do they get some kind of pleasure in degrading the existing publications? Do they mean well or they just want to pose that they are doing the ‘right thing’ and prove that other art workers are just being parasites? Does Indian contemporary art scene deserve or need more art publications? What is exactly happening in our publication scene? Later, I feel, I myself need to find answers to all these questions for these artists would never commit themselves to concrete answers regarding the issue that they themselves raise often.

Generally speaking, art journals can be of two types: one that leads the way and the other that supplements and compliments. The former type could exist only in an intellectually driven scene, whose investment is nothing but intellectual capital. It cannot endorse what the market says not can it produce arguments for massaging the market egos. The latter type, the ones that compliment and supplement can exist along with the market only; it has to endorse the market’s findings and also feed it with new ideas and attitudes. Considering the upbeat mood of Indian contemporary art, whose engine is nothing but monetary capital investment, art journals/publications can function only as the latter types. Then the question is only about the number of such journals. Currently we have only a few art magazines and most of them are supplementary in function and fashion.

I believe, the artists’ complaint stems from certain comparisons. They go all over the world, especially in the capitalist countries which have a flourishing art market, see all those journals neatly stacked at the merchandise shops attached to the galleries and museums. The site of these journals put them into depression, which in turn causes a comparison. Why, despite having a flourishing art market back home, we don’t have publications like these? Even some of my critic friends complain in the same way: look at the variety of journals. Look at their production quality and professionalism, they keep exclaiming. Cursorily though, I have gone through many of these magazine out of curiosity. Most of them deal with certain artists; certain writers and none of them could be called representative of its country/region of publication. Each does its supplementary and complimentary job well and the market promotes these magazines because the market there has accepted the fact that to substantiate and qualify the monetary capital investment, it needs a further endorsement from the intellectual capital investment. These journals are surrogate forms of intellectual capital investment.

Then the question is, do we have such an egalitarian and cosmopolitan market scene here in India? Doesn’t the lack of journals point at a very serious lack of an egalitarian market? Doesn’t this market in its mad rush for profit making and further monetary capital investment, fail to qualify itself with the intellectual capital investment? I believe, while complaining, our artists refuse to address this issue. They think, it is the job of somebody ‘out there’ to produce good magazines. Who could be this somebody? Who is that Good Samaritan or a scapegoat? Looking for an agency or an individual who would come and raise the status of Indian art magazine, is obviously a Utopian thought because such an agency or person does not exist in a market place. So the complaint of the artists is baseless and illusionary.

We have to accept the fact that our art market is intellectually primitive, crass and peopled with ‘dog eating dog’ attitude. It simply does not want any art journals. You may ask me then why and how the existing journals survive and why the art galleries and establishments publish catalogues and monologues. My answer is this: They exist and still publish because with all limitations and agendas (and also with all claims to intellectualism), that is the only minimum intellectual capital investment we can aspire for. To put it another words, we are intellectual dwarfs (all including artists, critics, curators, gallerists, collectors, museum professionals, publishers, investors and so on) and we have chosen to be like that. A people get a king, who they deserve because, they are the people giving right to the king to be the king.

It may sound offensive to many ears. But the truth is that we are dwarfed by our own abilities. But the consolation is we have time to grow. We can be a giant Gulliver not only in Lilliput but also in Brobdingnag. We need to grow using our own intellectual vitamins. Who could provide us with these vitamins? Surprisingly, they are the artists themselves. No gallery, no entrepreneur, no funding agency, no other force on this earth can bring out art journals or publications with intellectual capital investment as the main feed, as all their publications would have set priorities and agendas. But artists can become publishers, hiring intelligent people, intelligent writers, intelligent critics and intelligent curators in their kitty. And considering the history of art publications in India, (taking Nandan, Vrishchik, Art and Ideas etc. as examples), I would say only the collaboration between intelligent artists and intelligent writers has brought out memorable art journals.

So dear friends, no more complaints about the lack of art journals in India! When you make comparisons between international art publications and the lack of publications in India, these amount to nothing but breast-beating and moral posturing. Wake up! Shed the veils of illusion and ignorance! Invest in an intellectual scene along with intelligent people! And go all over the world as proud people and tell them that we publish and we publish to make a difference!