SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

Photo: Prabir Das

One would like to imagine that art is not beholden to unsavoury commercialism and is above the baseness of material greed. But then even artists have to eat. An art gallery can provide artists with the vital support to make their work visible to the world. For young artists, art galleries can play a particularly important role as they take the artist's work to the right sort of buyer. A discerning art gallery is a boon to both artists and art-lovers because it brings talented artists to the latter's attention, thereby enriching the cultural conversation.

Photo: Prabir Das

Finding a gallery that is ready to represent a young artist with limited public exposure is tough. An artist needs to prove that he/she has the talent, the ability that will attract investors to his artworks. Galleries often take months to decide whether they would be willing to exhibit an inexperienced artist's work.

“Aspiring artists, who want to showcase their artworks, are required to submit their CV along with samples of their artworks. A board of experienced artists and the management of the gallery decide whether the artworks are viable for an exhibition in our gallery,” says Abu Soyeb Jewel of the Dhaka Art Centre.

Art galleries can be defined as the best platform for debutant artists to exhibit their work. The public exposure is definitely the obvious benefit. The added advantage is that these galleries often have well-established artists on board who can offer aspiring artists with both positive as well as negative feedback, thus enhancing the artist's knowledge and skills.

Art galleries are usually interested in award-winning or established artists, says Sunil Kumar, an emerging artist who has been part of more than a dozen group exhibitions.

“Most people don't realise that awards don't equate great art. As most art galleries are profit-oriented, they prefer to go with people's demands instead of offering young talented artists with a chance to showcase their creativity,” he says.

There has been an increased interest in art investments but the market is still in a nascent stage. Photo: Zahedul I Khan

However, there are galleries which opt for quality over repute, says Kumar. But it can take months for an artist to have his/her solo exhibition, during which they have to go through a number of processes to have their works selected.

Each art gallery has it own set of rules and selection process to ascertain whether they want to hire out gallery space or organise the whole exhibition. If the gallery chooses to organise the exhibition, no extra fee is charged apart from a commission on the sale of the artworks.

Gallery Kaya in Uttara, for example, takes complete responsibility of organising an exhibition instead of renting out the space to artists. They charge a 35 percent commission on each artwork sold.

Even though galleries want to work with up and coming artists, they feel restrained as most investors prefer to buy the works of established artists. Photo: Prabir Das

Gautam Chakrabarty, Director of Gallery Kaya and an artist in his own right, says that the gallery aims to feature both established as well as relatively new artists. As an artist, Chakrabarty is well-connected and informed about the emerging talents whose artworks are worthy of display in the gallery. The gallery is responsible for everything relating to the exhibition, starting from the picture frames to printing costs. They also take the responsibility of introducing prospective buyers to the artist and organising the sale of the artworks.

Shilpangan Art Gallery also prefers to charge a commission of 30 percent as opposed to renting out the space for art exhibitions. Rumi Noman, Member Secretary of the Shilpangan Trust, says that even though galleries often want to work with new and upcoming artists, they feel restrained as buyers prefer the art of established artists.

“Galleries survive by the sales they make at an exhibition. It is an unfortunate truth but usually art buyers in the country are more concerned about investment instead of the quality of an artwork,” Noman says.

Prospective buyers need to understand that the worth of a piece of art depends solely on its creative quality. Photo: Prabir Das

Buyers continue to demand paintings of Rafiqun Nabi or Shahabuddin Ahmed as they think of them as investments for the future, he adds.

“Most people think that the more expensive the artwork, the better the returns. There is also a social aspect to buyers' attitude towards art. They feel pride in having the artwork of an established artist. They can boast about it to their friends and family,” explains Noman.

Artist Sudipto Mallik says that works of talented upcoming artists are not given the attention they deserve. Instead of concentrating on the commercial aspect of art, galleries should focus on creative works by talented artists to ensure the survival of art as we know it, he asserts.

“Take Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts for example. They usually work only with famous artists because they are aware that their works will sell and they can earn a hefty sum from the sale. They do promote young artists but that is insignificant compared to the number of well-known names you'll see in the gallery,” he says.

We need to develop an art culture where we buy an artwork
because we like it, not because of the signature on it. Photo: Zahidul I Khan

Artists, who are yet to make a name for themselves have to often wait years for a gallery to agree to display their works, Mallik adds.

“Galleries will see your portfolio at one time and agree for an exhibition two years later. By that time, the artist would probably have moved on. He or she might be working on a completely different project,” he says.

Many artists feel that Shilpakala Academy, the national cultural centre of the country, is not doing as much as it could to promote young talents. Even though the Academy doesn't charge any fee for exhibitions, they seem to encourage the participation of upcoming artists only when they hold group exhibitions. Solo art exhibitions are reserved for reputed artists.

Sajal Das, an up and coming artist, believes that the Shilpakala Academy has the resources and funds to ensure a platform for young artists. Over time, however, the Academy has proven to be a huge disappointment for artists who had initially viewed it as a haven of opportunities.

There is a social aspect to investors' attitude toward art as they
feel pride in possessing the work of an established artist. Photo: Zahedul I Khan

“The Academy has enough resources and assets to set up a studio and allow artists to use it for free for a couple of months. They could easily offer paints, canvas and other materials to motivate aspiring artists to produce quality works which could be displayed at the Academy,” Das says.

Sudipto Mallik says that despite being a renowned institute, Shilpakala Academy is not inclined to hold exhibitions with fresh works of young artists. On the off-chance that they do organise a solo exhibition for newcomers, there is usually a lack of promotion and publicity to let people know about the event. The Academy might have amazing artworks worthy of grand exhibitions but they seem clueless about how best to showcase these works.

Artists allege that the inefficiency of the current management has a major role to play in the Academy's sorry state of affairs. They claim that nepotism has led to the appointment of incompetent people in powerful positions in the Academy. The management is unable to run the institute to its full capacity as they don't have a proper understanding of art. Ironically, even though the Academy is a national institute, artists bemoan the fact that the government shows no interest in addressing the inefficiencies. Artists would not have to struggle to make a name if the government showed interest in improving the academy to ensure that it would serve as the ideal platform for young talents.

Many galleries only patronize young talents recommended by celebrated artists. Thus, an emerging artist will find it extremely difficult to have his/her works showcased if they don't have a well-known name to refer them, says Das.

“A solo exhibition costs around Tk 1.5 lakh, which becomes quite expensive for an aspiring artist. As most galleries are unwilling to organise art exhibitions for newcomers, the artists are expected to bear the costs of the gallery space, the frames and promotional materials like catalogues, brochures and everything else,” he says.

An artist has to maintain good relations with art galleries as that determines whether his/her works can guarantee a spot on the gallery walls, says Joya Shehreen Haque. Haque, a rising artist with four solo exhibitions and a number of group art exhibitions  to her name, also states that the young are not as sought out for their talents in the country as they ought to be.

“You don't see people searching for youngsters in any field in the country. The whole concept of talent hunts to boost the quality of any market, be it music or art, is missing in Bangladesh,” she adds.

Swarnali Mitra Rini has been a part of almost 30 group exhibitions since she graduated from the Department of Fine Arts of Dhaka University in 2004. Mitra's works caught the eye of a visiting curator from France, who showed interest in organising an art exhibition featuring her works in a gallery in Paris. Ironically, this has been Mitra's only solo art exhibition till date.

Mitra alleges that the very process through which galleries organise art exhibitions is flawed.

“Artists often submit their artworks for an exhibition with a sense of obligation as we don't have the complete freedom to create or exhibit our art in our own way,” she says.

Buyers don't really think about promoting new ideas or talents, says Rumi Noman. They are more concerned about their returns, which is unfortunate as the country's young artists do a marvellous job in international art exhibitions and shows.

Even though galleries want to see fresh ideas in artworks, there is little scope for experimentation given the investors' preference of buying art that they “understand”, admits Noman.

“The main objective of galleries is to ensure the sale of artworks. So, when we get to see creative, original artworks, we want to exhibit them but we are faced with a dilemma when we see that the sales are poor,” he says.

Even though there has been an increased interest in art investments over the years, investors still lack in knowledge and understanding of art, say artists and gallery owners alike. As investing in art is still a relatively novel concept, buyers seem unable to understand that the worth of an artwork depends solely on its creative quality.

“Most investors think that if they can't purchase expensive artworks, there'd be no point “wasting” money on other paintings. They fail to understand that even Quamrul Hassan sold his paintings at as low a cost as Tk 2000 around 20 years back. The current resale value of Hassan's works can go up to Tk 15 lakhs,” says Gautam Chakrabarty.

Buyers should choose the art that they love as they will never regret their decision if they do that. Photo: Zahedul I Khan

We need to develop a culture of understanding art, where we buy an artwork because we like it and not because of the signature we see there, says Chakrabarty. We need to realise that there are a number of Qayyum Chowdhurys, Quamrul Hassans and Mohammad Kibrias today who will grow to be legends one day if given the chance, he adds.

The concept of investing in art is not as developed in Bangladesh as it is in the West, says artist and editor of the art magazine Depart, Mustafa Zaman. The art market of the country hasn't taken off as expected and is still in a nascent stage, he adds. Art investment in the West involves the participation of a number of parties, including the buyers, the galleries, art experts and artists. The galleries there work with a long-term vision in mind and thus, are not afraid of promoting young prodigies. They take the risk of investing in talents who show the potential of becoming accomplished artists in the future.

“Galleries in Bangladesh organise shows and are obliged to ensure that a certain number of artworks by the artist they patronise are sold. For example, if a gallery has a Rafiqun Nabi painting, they make sure that they sell it at the highest possible price. That is their main goal,” says Zaman.

Most galleries and investors are mainly concerned about making maximum profits at the shortest possible time. They lack the passion and professionalism to operate with an enduring vision, says Zaman. Their goals are short-range and so their interest in art too seems to have a one-point agenda of profit-maximization.

A commercial intent need not be a bad thing, he adds. However, we need to understand that the goal of making momentary profits will only take the country's art market so far.

“The art market in Britain is highly commercialised. However, they understand the need to invest in young talent. They channel their needs in a way that they are able to recruit talented artists so that they can profit out of his/her works in the future,” elucidates Zaman.

The art scene in the country is yet to set a modality through which a long-term plan could be made to ensure mutual benefits for the investors, galleries and the artists, he adds.

Our nearest neighbour India has left us far behind in terms of developing their art market. Hundreds of galleries operate in India at present with curators, who can offer informed insight on artists and exhibitions, leading them. If we are a emerging market, the Indian art market has already matured, says Zaman.

“The Indian government and private sector made a concerted effort to develop their art culture and policies, concepts that are non-existent in Bangladesh. The money influx in the art market was used to invest in curators and to improve art education,” he explains.

Compared to Bangladesh, the private and public art institutes of India worked in a combined manner which led to a leap in their art market in the late 90s. They further updated the model of operation followed by galleries to include holistic participation of artists, patrons, curators and the gallery itself. Even though Pakistan too managed to upgrade its art market to stay in the competition, Bangladesh failed to catch on and evolve its art industry.

“As Dhali Al Mamun said, we completely missed the train. The art market is lagging behind because there are no coordinated efforts to improve this industry,” says Zaman.

While India has turned to major players on a global platform, we are still stuck in the 80's mode in terms of developing our art market, he adds.

Artists also complain of the lack of curators in the art scene of Bangladesh which restricts the potential of growth. As a curator supervises the selection of an art collection for a gallery, he/she is responsible for the quality of the exhibition and needs to put his/her best foot forward. Curators research new and upcoming artists and recommend certain artists for acquisition and promotion.

“Art galleries and museums all around the world hire the expertise of curators who act as mediators. Today's markets are controlled by curators but unfortunately, the Bangladeshi art market is unfamiliar with the concept of curating,” says Zaman.

Zaman also bemoans the fact that there aren't many art consultants in the country who could guide interested buyers, advising them on the paintings they ought to purchase and the amount they should spend on a piece of art. Spectators and investors have to depend on established artists or galleries who advise them on the artists they “should” patronise.

Consultants could offer buyers with a fresh and hopefully impartial perspective as they are required to provide investors with details to explain why an artwork would prove worth the money spent on it. This would enable people to learn more about the work and understand that the value of art is not dependent on the experience of the artist.

Rumi Noman argues that the media can do a better job of publicising art exhibitions and promoting fresh talents. They can write about the lack of new ideas in art and make people aware of the changing trends in the art scene, he says.

This does not mean that the media has made no contribution whatsoever in promoting art. Art reviews published in newspapers or magazines, for example, provide potential buyers with detailed information about a piece of art. Art critics are usually well-informed about the art scene and they know what they are talking about. Reviews tell you why the critic thinks a particular artwork could be of value in later years. They explain in detail about the particular features that make an artwork worth its money. Reading reviews allow potential buyers to be better educated about the artwork that they seek to buy.

“A good review could further stimulate interest in a young artist's works if he/she is already creating a buzz in the art world,” says Mustafa Zaman.

Most aspiring artists have to depend on a secondary source of income to sustain. While Sajal Das teaches art at a school, Sunil Kumar works at a private organisation and Sudip Mollik owns an interior designing firm.

“It is difficult to run a family on an artist's income. You will see that most emerging artists either teach at a school or work at ad firms or newspapers to earn a sustainable livelihood. We work hard to create original art but don't make enough to turn this into our sole livelihood,” says Sunil Kumar dryly.

Young artists define the future of our art culture. However, instead of offering them the opportunities they deserve, we tend to overlook their capabilities. In our short-sighted vision of profit maximisation, we forget that it will be impossible to develop our art market if we show no interest in fresh talents and original ideas. If galleries have the responsibility of promoting emerging artists, art patrons too have the responsibility of understanding their worth.

Instead of letting the commerce guide you into choosing a “valuable” piece of work, be sure to choose something that you love. If you are lucky, you could end up with a hidden gem in your hands that you can sell for a hefty profit. And if you are really lucky, you will not want to.