In quest of art

Nonika Singh on D C Bhattacharyya, who is being honoured by the Asiatic Society of Kolkata for his contribution to art history

IF you have the questions, I have the answers", says eminent art historian D. C. Bhattacharyya. In fact, it is this quest to know the answers that put him on the path of research some 50 years ago leading to a momentous odyssey en route which he has contributed to the Dictionary of World Art, besides having penned 15 books and more than 100 articles in leading national and international journals.

Today, all set to receive the prestigious RP Chanda Centenary Medal for his contribution to art history and archeology by the Asiatic Society of`A0Kolkata set up in 1784 by none other than Sir William Jones, he is personally not too happy with the current art research scenario in India. While observing that "not much outstanding work has been done in last 10 years", he blames the internet revolution for having killed research. He remarks, "With information just a click away, most researchers are not willing to go the extra mile".

Yet another problem area in art research, he feels, has been the lack of proficiency in Indian languages among researchers of the present generation. Adept in Pali, Prakrit and Sanskrit apart from Hindi, English and Bengali with the working knowledge of Punjabi too, he is adamant,`A0"For authentic research one needs to go to the source, possible only through the original language. Translations are after all translations and can provide only limited access to the subject". He says while in the West, knowledge of an oriental language is an imperative, if someone wants to research in that area, in India, no such stricture exists.

To those undermining the significance of art history and research in the modern-day world, he shoots back, "If art heritage were not important, would celebrated artists like M.F. Husain go back to Goddess Durga or Saraswati. No contemporary artist can escape past."

He is of the view that contemporary Indian art by and large lies in the same continuum as ancient art and is distinctively Indian in flavour and content. Of course, art in India even way back in time was not free of outside influence. An expert in iconography and Buddhist art, especially Gandhara art, he reminds, "Indo-Greek Gandharan art was an assimilation of Greek, Persian, Central Asian and Indian influences. Highly symbolic, it enriched Indian art in a major way".

On the advisory committee of the Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh and associated with it ever since its inception, he is only too pleased that the Chandigarh museum boasts of the second-best Gandharan art collection in the country. But what makes Indian museums such insipid, uninspiring places, which a few bother to visit? He agrees that museums must evolve a dynamic vocabulary. Sadly, this former Chairman Department of Fine Arts, Panjab University, Chandigarh, asserts, "Indians are resistant to change, so much so that even in art colleges, the syllabi will not change for decades."

The apathy with which we — both the government and the individuals — treat our priceless heritage too appals him to no end. He quips, "It is not only Gandhi’s articles that have been found in the West. Much of our heritage is lying abroad. And it would be no surprise, if in future; researchers like me are compelled to go to the West for sourcing the material".

Cautioning India to be conscious of its rich heritage, he, a man of iconography, "the study of meaning of images", is equally`A0perturbed about the misinterpretation of heritage. Heritage in his lexicon, however, isn’t just sculptures, paintings and buildings alone but also includes folk traditions and folk songs. He rues, "In Punjab, the inimitable folk songs, too, are vanishing and are currently preserved only in bits and parts by cinema, pop music and television".

However, he doesn’t endorse the popular viewpoint — Indians are visually illiterate. During his tenure as Chairman, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, he had discovered that even in rural areas people have an eye for art and aesthetics. He adds, "We need to kindle the spark." As for igniting the interest in art research he opines, "Today, interest is linked with job opportunities which are minimal in art research".

In his 50th year of research publication, he is currently involved with two projects of Sector 10, Government Museum, and Chandigarh — non-Gandharan sculptures and a unique 10th century AD sculpture dug at Gujjar Kheri, Haryana.

"Art appreciation," he feels "is a highly subjective area. Comparisons are unwarranted as art is ultimately an individualistic endeavour". Art research, too, he avers is "a loner’s journey". Only, he is determined to keep his tryst going.

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