Visual Arts in Bangalore

No other place in Bangalore has hosted as many exhibitions in a year as Samuha - an artist collective that, over a period of a little more than a year, brought to Bangalore an interesting array of shows and workshops (each lasting for about two weeks). The collective was conceived keeping in mind diverse artistic practices that often go unnoticed and the need for exchange between artists in Bangalore and its surrounding areas. Functional from July 2009 to August 2010, the space and its use almost became an art in itself, bringing together artists and generating a dialogue within the community and beyond it.

Samuha brought together established artists who were also members of the collective, as well as unknown, “outsider” artists. The frequent and varied shows included exhibitions of drawings, sculptures, videos, installations—both group and solo shows—workshops, seminars and film festivals. Its collective structure helped it venture into several different artistic directions as the members of the collective actively “curated” work that they felt might not otherwise be made available publicly.

The actual physical space of the initiative, set atop the ADA Rangamandira building around JC Road in Bangalore, across from the Town Hall, was not your usual white cube. A bit noisy perhaps, but airy and with good light, and set against the juggernaut government buildings—literally facing them—it had the feeling of being in opposition to the “system”. And the work that was displayed felt distinctly “alternative” to the mainstream, be it in use of material or content and presentation. What was most unconventional about Samuha, however, was its all-inclusive nature. There seemed no shared propaganda or agenda but simply a willingness to bring to the forefront the sustained practices of artists in different stages of their careers.

The first time I visited Samuha was also my first night in Bangalore, as a member of the second BAR1 cohort of 2009. Because we were in Bangalore as part of a residency at the same time as Samuha was gathering momentum, crossover was inevitable. It was one of Samuha’s first exhibitions, consisting of installations, paintings and videos by Mangala A.M., an artist I had never heard of before. Her video-work was a collage of scenes that alternated between the ritual worship of a goddess and shots of the artist being plastered with vermillion and turmeric. Accompanying it was an installation and a few paintings. In a way her show was a precursor to the work about to come. Like her successors, she too tried to strike a balance between multimedia presentation and content that was suggestive of traditional practices. The work was distinguished in the way it tied the local and the personal with the global/universal.

In the next few weeks Samuha continued to bring in works that were urban and savvy to contemporary art “trends” and sometimes in total rejection of those very aesthetics. Many artists were based in rural Karnataka, and that influence was evident in their work. It was interesting to see how their work translated into the gallery setting. When a certain sculptor made large mud tepees as part of his installation, the entire space filled up with the smell of cow-dung mixed with that of rotting flowers. There were well-known artists from Bangalore whose films and videos presented the sophistication achieved from years of practices; while a particular exhibition looked as if a personal sketch book had exploded on the walls.

Because Samuha was open to visitors throughout the fortnight that each show ran, and because the artists were almost always present at the gallery during that time, it was a great opportunity to know more about the works on display and their makers. Through conversations with artists working in distinctly different styles and regions, and often in seclusion, one got behind the art on the walls and into an individual’s creative process. To glimpse what art meant to each artist and how he or she struggled to give it new meaning each day was an invaluable gift.

I never made it to Christoph Storz’s show at Samuha, but I was there the day before it opened, helping him set up the wall-to-wall display of cheaply produced, hand-made movie posters of which he is an avid collector. Watching him and his friends slave over where and how to display the endless pile of posters (some of which had slipped out of the realm of movies and were tributes to local artists—stars of their own imaginary movies) I had the sense that more than making a mark on the “art scene in Bangalore” and presenting works to prospective buyers, Samuha was involved in making a community. And I think it succeeded admirably.

Biswamit Dwibedy is a poet and artist with an MFA in writing from Bard College, New York. His first book of poems, Ozalid, was published in 2010. He is the editor of the independent literary venture Anew Press.