ART: Suzy Bell
THE entire Victorian and Foreign collection should be sold,” said Andrew Verster with panache. “What?” shrieked the British Empire, “Has the man gone quite mad?” Certainly not. But have you walked into The “Pink Victorian Room” or “The Circular Gallery” lately?
It reeks of colonialism — and we’re not just talking about the art. The architecture may be sublime, and it melts perfectly into the Victorian art. But more inherently, there’s a bad smell from the past that still lingers in this room. It’s self-evident that South Africa’s political history has taken care of that fact, but now in post-apartheid SA the finest room in the gallery is still without art that celebrates Indian or African culture.
As Durban Art Gallery (DAG), education officer Riason Naidoo so simply put it: “When you walk into this room and look at these Victorian paintings, I feel that only white people existed and that only white people painted during that time.”
But that’s about to change. And thanks to Verster, Durban’s highly acclaimed international artist, who kick-started the debate for change with his bold press statements of late.
A meeting of artistic minds sat in the most glamorous room in the Durban Art Gallery last week, to discuss creative options to make the room more interesting to more people. The debate could have been livelier had Verster been present, but the artist was in Cape Town for the opening night of his latest exhibition.
The meeting was open to representatives of Durban’s main art institutions, like Vedant Nanackchand, head of department of Fine Art at University of Durban-Westville, who raised the important issue that there was no Indian art collection in the DAG’s collection.”I find it unacceptable that in a city which reflects the cultural heritage of India, the Middle East, Africa and the West, there exists such a gross imbalance in favour of Western Art in the gallery’s foreign collection.”
Carol Brown, director of DAG, said it was due to lack of funds that the DAG was unable to purchase Indian art.
But surely we could sacrifice Queen Victoria on loan to a gallery, say in Bombay, in return for a well-endowed heavenly damsel in the form of a yakshi? Or more relevant, Indian art that intrigues and reflects the rich mythology?
But the only practical solution seems to be as Brown has suggested: “We need to source private collectors of Indian art. We could borrow Indian art as we have from Durban film producer Anant Singh.”
It was concluded that the re-hanging of the Victorian and Foreign collection could be used in a more imaginative and constructive way. They suggested that Indian and African art, together with Victorian art and foreign art should be hung side by side, either thematically, or within the same historical time frame.
It will be interesting to see how this would be handled because during the British period in India, Indian art became imitative of Western trends and ideals. Although there was much British painting in India, it is of interest as an historical record rather than as art itself.
Brown admitted that tourists visiting our country would be more fascinated by what our local cultures have to offer. But she made it quite clear that although Verster’s statements stimulated much healthy debate, the Victorian and Foreign collection would never be sold.