Indians go art trippin' with the neighbours

KOLKATA: Art works from neighbouring countries have slowly started arriving in the country. These works, most of them paintings, come from Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Thailand. Indian art buffs are being exposed to these creations at gallery shows. Works from slightly more distant locations like Vietnam are also being shown here.

“Acquisitions of art from other locales began with the NRI community living in places like Hong Kong and Singapore. As expats, they started buying non-Indian artists working in the South Asian region. At the same time, NRIs in London were also looking at Pakistani and Bangladeshi artists.

This interest among the NRIs has filtered down to resident Indians now,” an art market source told ET. Together with this factor, Indian artists took to travelling to different destinations and began spreading the word about artists from neighbouring regions.

Third, economies in some of these countries looked up which spurred cultural activities. Thus, artists in these territories became much more active in their own countries and also reached out to much bigger markets like India.

“Artworks, especially paintings, from these countries close to India are lately being considered investment-worthy. Some of the painters are producing quality works. Besides, most of the senior non-Indian artists are underpriced compared to the older group of Indian painters.

A few of the younger artists from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries are also showing a fair deal of potential and are available at reasonable prices,” the source said. According to the source, these non-Indian paintings are being exhibited via solo and group shows. Sometimes, they are also included in a show of Indian painters.

Though these artworks are still to enter the mainstream market, there are initial signs of an integration. Of course, a Pakistani master like AR Chughtai or the famed George Keyt from Lanka have become an integral part of the local modern art.

The price tags of these works range from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10 lakh. “Sometimes, like in the case of US-based Pakistani artist Sazia Sikander, the prices can rise up to Rs 20 lakh,” the source said.

A few other Pakistani painters include Rashid Rana and Thala Rathore. In step with well-known artists like George Keyt and Ivan Peris, the other Lankan painter who is selling in India is Senaka Senanayaka.

One has also seen the Myanmar artist Minwah in exhibits together with a clutch of Bangladeshi painters. “A fair deal of cross-pollination is taking place on the art buying front in the South Asian region and this is healthy for the art market as a whole,” the source said.