Linke - Artinfo

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Above:
Gulammohammed
Sheikh’s Speechless
City, 1975, a 42-inchsquare
oil on canvas.
Opposite: The 2011
inaugural exhibition
at knmA in Saket,
“Time Unfolded,”
top, with Bharti kher’s
The Skin Speaks a
Language Not Its
Own, 2006, a life-
size fiberglass
elephant covered
in bindis, prominently
displayed. Yatra,
1955, below, is one
of several works by
m.F. Husain in the
nadar collection.
“Open Doors,” was curated by Karode. “The title had
both a literal and a metaphoric sense, as knma opened its
doors to the larger public to share Mrs. Nadar’s
art collection, which was now placed in the public
realm,” Karode explains. “Some rare works by Souza,
Husain’s Mothers, 1990; Broota’s Runners, 1982; Bikash
Bhattacharjee’s “Doll” series, 1971; A. Ramachandran’s
Towards the Sun, 2004; N.S. Harsha’s Nations, 2007;
and Gulammohammed Sheikh’s Speechless City, 1975,
were all part of this exhibition, which introduced the
collection to the art community and the general public.”
But Noida proved an inconvenient location; Nadar’s
mission of creating visual literacy through art and
encouraging art appreciation among the general populace
was difficult to achieve there. In January 2011 knma
opened its second space at the mall in Saket with “Time
Unfolded,” an expansive show curated by Karode that
covered a range of modern and contemporary Indian
expression, with special focus on the Bengal region as
a hub of modernism in pre-independence India. The show
highlighted work by the Progressives and included art
by diaspora artists like Kapoor and Raqib Shaw. Among
the more emblematic pieces was Gupta’s life-size fiberglass
sculpture of an Indian family of four riding a Bajaj
scooter, 2006, which has come to epitomize the country’s
middle class in the 1970s and ’80s. The lavish opening
coincided with the India Art Summit (now the India Art
Fair) and brought together the biggest names from the
country’s art world as well as figures from the inter-
national circuit. The museum was hailed as India’s first
philanthropic institution for modern and contemporary
Indian art. “It’s a vision that India needs,” says Nadar.
Meanwhile, programming continues at the Noida space,
which hosted two exhibitions in 2012: “Cynical Love:
Life in the Everyday,” a group show with a technological
theme curated by Gayatri Sinha, and “Of Bodies, Armour
and Cages,” a solo show of Shakuntala Kulkarni’s installations
and photographs that address the relationship of
the body to the dual notions of protection and entrapment,
curated by Karode. “Zones of Contact,” organized by in-
house curator Akansha Rastogi and guest curators Vidya
Shivadas and Deeksha Nath, is the latest show to open
in the Noida space and remains on view through September.
The 2013 program at Saket promises to be a more
ambitious affair, according to Karode. “At knma, we
are showcasing the first comprehensive retrospective of
Nasreen Mohamedi in India,” she says. The Karachi-born
artist, who died in 1990, was known for her Mondrianinspired
minimalism. The museum is simultaneously hosting
(through November) two additional new shows, “Amrita
Sher-Gil: Self in the Making,” co-curated by Karode
and Vivan Sundaram, the artist’s nephew, and a third show
curated by Karode, which features work by several artists.
“The galleries are divided so that all three exhibitions
coexist, and the entire 18,000 square feet is not used for just
one exhibition as before,” says Karode.
For all the intensive programming at both venues,
Nadar isn’t satisfied. “The aim is to eventually build a
museum,” she says. “I think the building of an iconic
structure is as important for a museum as the art it houses.
That’s the legacy that I’d like to leave.” Aside from tax
exemptions, Nadar has received no governmental support
for her initiatives. “Trying to get land or trying to get
the government to see the importance of a museum is an
uphill task,” she says. “All across the world, private
museums are funded through a public-private partnership
where land is normally granted. That is the kind of
model we’d like to get into.”
Nadar is currently seeking a 100,000-square-foot site
for a new building that can house her growing collection,
which she currently estimates at more than 500 works.
As ambitious plans for expansion and longevity evolve,
Nadar’s focus remains squarely on collecting works
by India’s modern and contemporary artists. The sole
exception is her recent acquisition of a Marina Abramović
print, Artist Portrait with a Candle, 2012, which features
the artist seated solemnly, garbed in black, candle in hand,
its light shining on the backdrop like a halo.
knma has set many precedents in India, with its state-
of-the-art conservation practices and clarity of mission,
particularly impressive as the National Gallery of
Modern Art (the only state-run institution for modern
and contemporary art) founders without a coherent
acquisitions policy. Another precedent is its vision of the
museum as a hub for conversation between artists in
the presence of artworks and for interventions by artists
such as Sonia Khurana and Zuleikha Chaudhari, who
have reimagined the museum space through performance
and interactive installations. In just three years Nadar has
established an institution recognized for the quality of its
holdings and respected as the place where works that have
been in exile, like Saurashtra, will find a permanent home.
March/april 2013 | BlouinArtinfo.comAsiA
this page and opposite: knma
“a public-private
partnership
is the kind
of model
we’d like
to get into.”
BlouinArtinfo.comAsiA | march/april 2013
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