Indian art finds a place for itself at the world’s most prestigious biennale

It was not long ago that Jitish Kallat rued the fact that even though several of the world's tiniest nations had their very own government sanctioned national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, India still remained without one at the prestigious event. Even smaller countries like Iran, Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan, with no significant push to promote contemporary art, had their pavilions. The Government of India for some reasons remained non-committal on active patronage in the international arena.

Striking a positive chord, the renowned contemporary Indian artist had pointed to some optimism in the growing representation of Indian artists within the curated section at the Venice Biennale, hoping that the Indian pavilion would happen. Indeed, for the first time, India will have an official pavilion at the prestigious event this year. It’s indeed a significant development, as the government has finally accepted an invitation from its organizers to host a pavilion. In 2007, a formal invitation was extended, but the country missed a golden opportunity due to some bureaucratic bungles.

Noted art critic Ranjit Hoskote’s take on this whole debate then was: “We should not contemplate such a pavilion until we are able to demonstrate the self-critical maturity necessary to transcend local politics and also sustain it at an international level of excellence. A national pavilion in Venice would register a triumphal note of arrival both for the Indian nation-state and for the Indian art world. But it must embody the soft-power ambitions of the former and the cultural accomplishments of the latter.”

Incidentally, he is now working as the commissioner-curator of the India pavilion. He has stated: “Some very key people in the bureaucracy are committed to this, so it’s working well.” Beyond the official budget is Rs 10 million ($217,000), there is need for additional fund-raising to ensure a smooth launch, but that doesn’t seem to be a worry…