Different Strokes

History proves how art has always played a major role in educating and promoting social causes, uplifting a society and even changing rulers. It is true that when I bought my first painting, I was completely unaware of how I would look at art, artists and art forms three decades from thence but I knew for sure that Indian art, at that time, was going through a major paradigm shift in terms of language, perspective and form. And I was being indulgent.

As the collection started growing, so did my perspective towards art. By 1995, there were no walls left in my house and I was still collecting good artwork. The journey had started and I was enjoying each painting that I collected, oblivious to the magnificence it would one day build up to. 

This journey in the world of art has been the result of a combination of circumstances and factors, which include intuitive judgments, adventurous experiments and, of course, some experiential learning of the art ecosystem. The idea of starting a museum wasn’t sudden. It was a gradual realisation of how art played a major role in educating a society and I knew this was my calling in life. 

In ancient times, rulers would commission artists to create paintings and sculptures depicting their time, thus, using art as a tool to educate to reach out to everyone. Ironically, today, art has become a thing of luxury to flaunt instead and far from the reach of common man. This is where we need to reimagine luxury as a privilege to reach out to help.

I could clearly see how the modern and contemporary artwork was inaccessible to majority of public. The common man had no idea of how and where the contemporary Indian world was shaping up, primarily because majority felt intimidated on entering a private gallery, let alone a museum. 

So, with a very clear perspective of sharing the collection and bridging the gap between art, artists, various art forms and public at large, we opened our first museum in Noida with the first exhibition called
Open Doors. 

When I would visit museums outside India, I realised how different their working styles were in terms of collection, outreach and even promotions. So, when we decided about Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), our benchmark was already set to international standards, and we had quite a gap to fill. 

Considering our rich cultural heritage, our traditions and the abundance of art forms, we had to create a platform to merge the age old with the new and contemporary. Also, our prime concern was ensuring art’s accessibility to people and creating dynamic outreach programs to nurture a museum-going culture among India’s youth.

Therefore, it was decided to start KNMA, as a not-for-profit organisation that would work on a strictly non-commercial model. Today, the museum works consistently towards informing, educating and enlightening diverse audiences that include, school and college students, NGOs, corporates and general public about the various Indian art forms, through various programmes that include interactive sessions, talks, workshops and events to involve general public in Indian art forms. The museum extensively helps art events, exhibitions and workshops on art through sponsorship programmes reaching out to millions of students, artists and general audiences.

It is imperative to create ease of accessibility to arts, not just for students but public at large and thus the museum has its doors open for diverse audiences so that they can experience the wealth of creativity not just historically but also within a contemporary context displaying emerging artists alongside well-known Indian masters. The museum itself is a fine example of bringing audiences closer to art by organising programmes at the museum for free, which change public perceptions of what a museum can offer. 

We have done open-for-all art programmes across the length and breadth of the country including remote places in Kashmir to neighbouring countries such as Bhutan to promote our traditional Indian art forms apart from tie-ups with international Museums such as Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Tate Modern (London), Musée Des Arts Asiatiques, (Nice) and Musée Guimet (Paris) in these last seven years.

KNMA allows the public free access to some of India’s most significant modern and contemporary Indian artists, and energises each exhibition with unique interdisciplinary programming, talks and panel discussions that allow audiences new ways to reflect on the incredible breadth of India’s various art forms, old and new.

The art collection today comprises over 5,000 artworks representative of all major phases of modern and contemporary Indian art, which are showcased in two KNMA venues with a combined display area of approximately 50,000 sq ft. The museum collection also includes some paintings by masters as a part of heritage collection for the countrymen, such as Tagore, Raja Ravi Verma, Amrita Sher-Gil amongst others that had left shores. 

Today, when I pick an artwork, my prime concern is the Museum. The exhibitions that KNMA team curates focus on how we can educate people through art. The themes, presentation, choice of artworks and artists all go into a process where we look at enhancing the public perspective. It’s not just about hanging paintings. The latest exhibition at Saket, Delirium/Equilibrium is a fantastic new age exhibition in sync with what museums and galleries are doing internationally, yet with a touch of Indian art to it!

The most satisfying part is when I see students looking at an original masterpiece that they could otherwise only read about or probably see a picture somewhere or something that is on an international level which is inaccessible for most of the students. That’s when I feel I have worked on my share of things.

It is a privilege to work towards a cause that aims to enrich, enhance and inspire young artists of India and build a culture for generations to cherish the vivid art heritage created by our contemporary Indian artists.