An entrepreneur-collector who ‘partakes the serene journey with the artists’

An insightful new report on entrepreneur-collector Harsh Goenka’s passion for art’ ('Corporate parties in museums studios are really interesting' by Shreya Badola) sums up his varied interests that span beyond art. The DNA India story highlights the success of his annual art camp hosted with Vikram Sethi.

“Business tycoon Harsh Goenka’s passion for art is a public knowledge by now. The recently concluded RPG art camp — an annual week long art exhibition and workshop— organised by him together with partner Vikram Sethi, at his beach house in Marve, is quite a testimony to the same.

An avid collector of contemporary art, Goenka’s interest in art dates back to his early days in Kolkata. “It is a great stepping for these artists to get their creative juices flowing,” he explains, adding, “…as it is an eclectic mix of senior artists like Anjolie Ela Menon, Paresh Maiti etc and some promising youngsters like Heeral Trivedi. Also there is a gender balance. The whole of art camp is a very liberating kind of an environment.”

Goenka has been organizing the art camp for over 14 years now. The camp is in fact one of the events he looks forward to every year. This year, there are 24 participating artists. “It is good to see the artists exchange ideas and interact. There are healthy and fruitful discussions that lead to great artworks.

They give presentations on their work, the medium and the technology,” he asserts. Art for him is a form of therapy wherein he “partakes the journey with the artists… getting to understand the artist, and therefore the art, better”! And this he attributes to his childhood days in Bengal where “art is so predominantly embedded in the cultural scene.”

Besides work and art, Goenka also indulges in water sports and cricket. The business honcho is also much thrilled by the idea of quirky corporate parties held in arty venues like museums and stadiums. “They are pretty prominent in the West and are really interesting. But unfortunately, our museums have stringent rules and do not permit that to happen here,” he laments. “Although I had one at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Kolkata, a couple of years ago, where I displayed my collection of Bengal art; alongside a fashion show by three designers including Sabyasachi,” he adds.”