In 1996, I joined my mother at DAG and first trained myself and my eye, which has been my most useful tool in making DAG India’s largest art company with galleries in India and New York, museums, international collaborations, several pathbreaking initiatives in the field of art, a pioneer in art publications, and a recognition for the secondary market—previously the domain of auction houses. All this has been made possible by building up, with some foresight as well as through passion, a deep inventory—the largest collection of pre-modern and modern art in India that can simultaneously sustain museums, galleries, participation in international co-events as well as art fairs.
Q. How would you say the art sector in India has developed during this time?It has been an interesting three decades of witnessing rapid changes in India’s art scene. At its most basic, it has allowed Indians to re-engage with masters whose legacies have now been reclaimed by even the millennial generation. Indians based overseas have become ambassadors and collectors of Indian art. international auction houses have entrenched themselves firmly with an annual calendar devoted to Indian and South Asian sales. A large number of Indian auction houses has proliferated. A very large number of galleries has come up. There are private museums. Collectors are celebrated for their patronage. We now have an annual art fair and a biennale that are touted among the world’s best. Indian artists are increasingly being exhibited overseas.
However, it has not been a smooth ride. The contemporary art market took off but was severely damaged by global recessionary trends. Art funds were launched but were not successful—the result of the recession of 2008—and that has, sadly, scared away investors. The moderns have seen record prices being achieved, even though they are far lower than their European or even Chinese counterparts. Yet, the Indian art market and scene, for all its promise, is still poised at the precipice and has still not got its due on international platforms.
When DAG started, the art market was limited, and only a handful of artists were spoken about—not more than 10 or 15. With a clear understanding of the richness of Indian art, I travelled a lot, something that I continue to do, and my focus has always been on buying the works of those artists who made a major contribution to the shaping of Indian modernism but were either not promoted or were sidelined due to the disproportionate focus on a few artists. I went wherever my research took me, in search of hidden gems of Indian art that nobody had thought of bringing to the forefront.
Given the richness of Indian art, and given that it hasn’t been given its due enough, DAG has been focusing on taking art to the people. DAG’s long-term perspective of democratisation of art has been at the forefront of most of its activities, whether its historical curatorial exercises, its education initiatives for school and college students, its tactile programming for the non-sighted, its publishing and filmmaking programmes, its lively programming of talks and curated walks, and its relationship-building with institutions and museums around the world.
At the core, there will be one consistent journey where our clients—both younger ones as much as mature, experienced collectors—can also engage with us on their phones, on their computers. We need to find newer, fresher models to ensure that people’s interest in art continues to grow and be fed.
Q. What role do you see DAG playing in the Indian art sector over the next few years?Over the years, DAG has proved itself a worthwhile leader in showing the way to how art is researched and presented to viewers. We will continue to travel that path innovatively by further and richer explorations of art and its inter-relationship with related forms in the cultural space. Personally, I wish to keep increasing our inventory so that we have enough content to power more museums and alternative art spaces. This comes from ensuring the longevity of art received by us over the past decades and centuries. At DAG, I do not consider us as owners or purveyors of art as much as custodians holding it in safekeeping for future generations.
First Published: Feb 27, 2021, 09:30
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