Why Kiran Nadar Matters

THE VENICE BIENNALE recently celebrated its 60th anniversary. Global icons, art lovers, gallerists, and common men and women descended on Venice as always. To savour the world of creativity; to absorb the changes; and to be inspired by all that was said and a lot that was unsaid. Country pavilions were the cynosure of all eyes as they always are. This time round, the Ethiopian Pavilion even had a demo of a coffee ceremony. Venezuela had a country pavilion, too, as did Senegal. Obviously, all the powerful nations were represented through their national pavilions. From the US to Germany to China and the UK, not to mention France and even Egypt. Israel had art inside and protesters outside.

India was absent. Like it always is. As a country. We had no national pavilion, and yet we don’t tire of extolling the virtues of our artistic legacy and civilisational glory. We are a shame to this legacy today.

The prime minister has done yeoman service in putting India on the global map on India’s terms, but he is constantly being let down by the few who head ministries, such as the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Tourism. They actually don’t belong there. The bureaucrats running the Ministry of Culture should be made accountable for this national shame.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi knows best what soft power can do. Or, for that matter, how to amplify it. He does it very well as he did with yoga, but then how much can you expect one man to do?

Deviants like Indira Gandhi made people believe that art was for the elite forgetting that at the end of it all, art is the only thing that unites and delights. But then, what would these pea-brained people in government know about this? We are good at exporting stupid songs, which mean nothing to the Oscars, and then telling the world how evolved we are.

How long will some people in government ignore the importance of Biennales, such as the one in Venice? How long will we be ostrich-like? How long will we behave as if the world is desperate to seek us out? No one gives a toss about us. We don’t matter unless we make an effort. Jokers like some of these ministers must shed their arrogance. Every time I visit the Biennale, I feel let down by those in the Ministry of Culture. They are mere event managers who manage ridiculously bling events. They don’t have a bone of refinement in them.

Which is why Kiran Nadar matters. She matters because, from India, she is the only one who has supported South Asian art in the manner she has. She kept that art both in currency and on display. The patronage that Kiran has provided to the arts needs to be lauded and replicated, but the problem is she is alone. And despite no state support, she is on track to build a private museum like no other: a space that will blend the uniqueness of the MoMA and the Lincoln Center in the heart of Delhi. At Venice this year, Kiran launched the new logo of the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art: KNMA— an event that took Venice by storm, since on display was the world of MF Husain who our country had sent into exile. The immersive that KNMA put up of Husain was among the finest I have ever seen and leaves the Van Gogh immersive in the shade. The event began with the kind of music that is both uplifting and representative of this young, modern, and changing India.

Private enterprise will have to do what the government should also be doing. But I am glad we have the likes of Kiran Nadar who will go on regardless. And tell the world that India matters with or without a national pavilion. And thanks to Kiran Nadar, we could turn national shame into national pride. Just as we did at Venice 2024.

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