PPP of Venkatappa Art Gallery done in good faith: Tasveer Foundation

Bengaluru: On Friday morning, a group of prominent artists that included Gurudas Shenoy, Rekha Rao, Suresh Kumar and Kishore Setty, led by Sheela Gowda, the owner of Galleryske, stormed the office of Tourism Minister R.V. Deshpande to demand that he cancel the public-private partnership of Venkatappa Art Gallery. The delegation, which is part of the Venkatappa Art Gallery Forum, first met on February 14 at 1 Shanthi road, calling for transparency in the partnership, which will have Abhishek Poddar, owner at Tasveer, develop the gallery over a period of five plus five years.

"The artists say that the MoU is completely unacceptable and should be cancelled altogether," said V. Ravichandar, co-Chair of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group, who was present at the meeting. "They argued that the gallery is very close to their hearts, but if that's the case, why haven't they done anything about it in the last ten years? The gallery is in a dreadful condition."

Although there is an undoubted need for intervention at the gallery, which has languished in years of neglect, the artists have expressed concerns about the inclusivity of the space being compromised. "There is no clarity on what will happen with the permanent collections either," said Rekha Rao, whose father, the eminent artist K.K. Hebbar, donated a number of paintings to the gallery, all of which are now part of its permanent collection, along with the works of Venkatappa himself. "Poddar did say that the collections would be given pride of place, but that the works will be displayed on a rotational basis. We believe that they should be displayed in full."

Venkatappa Art Gallery, being a publicly run space, allows for artists from all sections of society to exhibit there, at nominal rates. "If the daily rent is hiked, it will close the doors on a lot of artists from across Karnataka," said Rao. A copy of the MoU has been handed to each of the artists, however, and Rao added that they will return to the minister with a list of written demands. "I am not against the privatisation of the space per se, as long as the artist community is involved in the process and we know that the essence of the space will remain intact."

Suresh Jayaram, the founder of 1. Shanti Road, said a more democratic process of privatisation is crucial. "We want the space to retain its character, which is one of being accessible to people from all walks of life," he told Deccan Chronicle. "The government, in privatising a space like this, seems to have its priorities wrong, because it has a long history of artist-led initiatives.”

Tasveer has responded with a written statement that seeks to answer the initial questions put forth by the VAG Forum. "We will ensure that VAG's signature collections will be preserved, stored and exhibited and its founding principles upheld, that upon reopening, the artworks of K. Venkatappa and K.K. Hebbar will be made available to the public in an improved and modernised setting, with a new focus on inclusivity, education and outreach," it said.

That apart, a talk has been scheduled as part of the Tasveer Foundation's lecture series, in which Poddar will outline, in complete detail, his plans for the gallery. The delegation of artists will meet at Venkatappa Art Gallery on Sunday morning to discuss the way forward.