Cauldron of expression

When more than 37 artists from over 30 countries congregate at one place for an art exposition, one can fathom the result. The Lalit Kala Akademi has been hosting such a mega-art show every three years in New Delhi and is aware of the tedious research, the excitement, the worries and the uncanny expectations involved.

The Triennale-India art festival this year celebrates the 10th year since its inception in 1968. To add to that, the Triennale coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Indian Republic this year. The festival, inaugurated on January 22, has generated excitement not only amidst the artist community, but among the lay-man audience as well.

What attracts the attention of the art critics and the casual viewer every Triennale festival is the vast array of unconventional ideas and mediums used.

The Rabindra Bhavan, the National Gallery of Modern Art and the All-India Fine Arts Gallery, the three venues where the various exhibits of the participating artists are put up, are a potpourri of artistic expressions. The ideas, symbolisms and metaphors are expressed in a mind-boggling array of mediums from common plastic bags to the Contessa car.

The Triennale, an exposition of contemporary world art, is held for a month and will close on Friday. Though more than 150 countries are invited to participate, only one-third the number actually participates. However, overall it is a successful art event considering the amount of awareness generated about contemporary world art.

Besides the exhibits, the Lalit Kala Academy has organised poetry reading, lectures on art, slide shows etc. The Academy also announces awards for the best works, but this is not the high point of the event. This year, nine awards carrying a cash prize of Rs 100,000 were awarded. Two artists, Hema Upadhyay and Probir Gupta, are Indian. What is interesting in the award selection is that all the nine artists have been awarded for their installation work.

Indeed Installation art, which symbolises impermanence and depicts reality as it is, has been the cachet of the Triennales down the decades. The installations not only occupy most of the exhibition space, but are also the most intriguing and fascinating aspect of the month long event. At the three venues one can find a lavish spread of installation art from the loud-speaker bedecked junk car to the leather casts wrapped as ghosts.

The 10th Triennale is honouring B.C. Sanyal, the grand 100-year-old man of Indian art, with a special section containing his select works.