Art and investment

In a candid interview, Art connoisseur Kiran Nadar opens up about her wish to create a museum culture in India and prove that art is not a choice of the elite few.

In January 2020, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art will celebrate a decade of being in existence. While the KNMA is the first and only kind of art museum in India that is totally based on a private initiative, it is part of a growing global community of art collectors who showcase their private collection in their private museums and also engage in interactive activities that promote the patronage of art and artists.

An ardent promoter of art for the last several decades and one of the country’s most prominent art collectors, Kiran Nadar, chairperson of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), started her collection with master artists like Rameshwar Boota, Manjit Bawa and M.F. Hussain. The museum’s prime objective is to build and encourage a love for art and integrate it into the regular lifestyle. Apart from showcasing prominent artists and backing them even when they are exhibiting outside the country, it also actively encourages rank newcomers and is always scouting for fresh talent. It also runs programs for schools and colleges, and works with NGOs to promote art. The going though is not always a smooth one. Based in New Delhi, both the museum and its chairperson Kiran Nadar face several challenges.

Kiran talks about art and the many challenges it faces in India. “In India we don’t look at art seriously or as an investment category. Delhi specifically doesn’t have a very interested art scenario unlike Mumbai or Kolkata. Delhi has a large floating population and it takes time for an interest in art to evolve. Building appreciation in art is a slow process but we hope to energise and invigorate the process. Self-building a collection is the first step, but to really put a foot forward requires a different kind of mindset,” she states. Globally, art is an investment tool but in India, she says, it is very different from the rest of the world. In fact, China, India’s close neighbour has made incredible headway in the business of art. Says Kiran, “China has grown by leaps and bounds. In 2008, we were about the same size as China. Today they are ahead in terms of contemporary Chinese art. That’s also based on the fact that there are a lot more Chinese collectors. In India we don’t have a large collector base.

China’s art collector base is at least 200 times our size.”

“In the West, if someone has a $1 million apartment, he will have art worth $2 million in the house, that’s the kind of interest people have in art. India still has a long way to go!”

KNMA upholds the tradition of art patronage and continues to expand that definition through its education initiatives. It also collaborates with schools, colleges, NGOS and trusts. Screening of films, stimulating curatorial programs, and curated walks form an integral part of the museum’s itinerary.

Talking about the kind of art she likes and promotes, Kiran says, “When I started my collection, it was based on contemporary and modern art and that’s where the depth of my collection grew. I still continue to build up the collection in areas I know best. I buy mainly from auctions. I also buy from individual artists. I have bought from Christie’s and Saffronart, as well Sotheby’s art auction. There are a few auctions coming up, where some exciting works are expected.”

She further adds, “You have to start somewhere and develop a genre, that will be the signature line of of the museum. We have such a great heritage in India; it needs to be shown to the public. Art is expressed in diverse forms, and there is the surface of the work and the message within the work. I don’t support any specific artwork but some of my earlier purchases were of Rameshwar Broota, Manjit Bawa, Hussain and so on.”

Kiran’s journey as a collector started a few decades ago but she continues to enjoy the meandering, chance encounters and discovery that works of art often lead to.

“Though the idea of opening a private art museum happened because of my intention to share my art collection with the public, I was acutely aware of the existing dearth of institutional spaces that could bring visibility to such art. I realised that my passion lay in raising awareness of the incredible art and culture surrounding us in our nation,” she explains and adds, “I wanted to create a museum culture in India and prove that art is not a choice of the elite few. Abroad art is not just for the elite, it is enjoyed by people from all walks of life.”

Keeping this in mind KNMA offers schools tours and workshops, art education programmes and a variety of new and exciting events to try and make the museum a familiar and comfortable space for all. “We have even spearheaded a campaign called #chalomuseum focussed on encouraging the public to visit their local museums,” she informs.

While the museum does not support any specific artist, there are many who appeal to the senses of its chairperson. “I enjoy acquiring works that strike a chord and appeal to me. In order to activate the museum as a site for visual and intellectual dialogue, we have aimed to develop innovative programs that seek active collaborations from artists as well as the public,” she says.

The KNMA has been known to promote artists in whom they believed and later enjoy their growth and progress. Like Nasreen Mohamedi, a relatively unknown artist when KNMA first started promoting her, but who, over the years, grew to great heights. In fact, after KNMA held her first retrospective, Mohamedi’s works then travelled to Museo de Reina Sofia in Madrid and later to the Met in New York.

Says Kiran, about her star artist, “Nasreen Mohamedi is India’s first woman abstract artist, and unrivalled at that. At a time when “figurative art” was the trend, Mohamedi interpreted the world through shapes, and more specifically, lines. She communicated with many of the leading artists in India in the 1960s and 1970s like V.S. Gaitonde and Tyeb Mehta who were part of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group and who became her mentors. But despite her interaction and proximity to artists like Jeram Patel, M.F. Husain, Bhupen Khakhar, Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, and Arpita Singh, Mohamedi created her own distinctive style. Looking at Nasreen Mohamedi’s art is a spiritual exercise, and perhaps creating it was a meditative practice for her too.”

KNMA has hugely promoted artists of progressive era not just through its own museum but other big galleries and art shows across the world. Kiran says, “We have also had retrospectives of Nalini Malani which was a yearlong and focused on different chapters of her works. She now has a show on in Paris, which we are supporting.

Then we have Rameshwar Broota who is a very well known artist but never had a large retrospective, KNMA was the first to do it. Additionally, we have worked a lot with Himmat Shah, exhibited his work, Jeram Patel and similar artists who were on the cusp of greatness but were not quite there, have also been promoted by KNMA.”

From amongst the younger lot, Kiran finds Jayashree Chakraarthy’s works very interesting. Talking about her, she said, “Jayashree Chakravarty is a much younger artist, her techniques and works are very exciting. Having a show at KNMA has promoted her to a level where they are much more popular and well known.”

As KNMA completes a decade, bringing along its carefully built goodwill, patronage by senior artists, the eagerness of younger artists to be associated with it, and its own endeavours of integrating art with life, the years ahead loom with promise and more accolades. As Kiran puts it, “We have worked hard to build the museums image and credibility, and we feel that artists have appreciated our efforts.”