Conference to Reflect on Challenges and Solutions in Indian Art Education

KOCHI:
With the second edition of the Students’ Biennale (SB) drawing to a close on March 29, some of the biggest names in art education in the country will gather here to take stock and assess its potential to intervene in the institutional landscape of Indian art schools.
A two-day conference will see SB 2016 curators, teachers, researchers and artists – many of whom have been involved with the initiative in advisory roles – reflect on a range of topics relevant to Indian art education and closely examine the SB’s capacity as an agent for change in its bringing together of two seemingly disparate systems: exhibition and education.
The two-day conference, titled ‘The Future of Indian Art Education’, is organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF) in association with the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) and the Foundation for Indian Art and Education (FIAE), and supported by Tata Trusts, the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation and Ayana, Fort Kochi.
From March 18-19, the conclave will deliberate on such concerns as the positioning of the SB in relation to the history and diversity of Indian art institutions, pressing infrastructural and policy issues, whether curatorial processes offer insights to engage with and explore contemporary art practices and bridge the growing divide with art teaching. As well, it will survey the theory and training of curation as imparted through programmes and courses offered by both educational institutions as well as exhibitory platforms like the Students’ Biennale.
“We are thrilled that this conference has come together because it gives us an opportunity to review the SB and the efforts that have been made by this platform in the direction of art education. The people congregating at Kochi are also linked to the platform as advisors and mentors, funders, curators, teachers and organisers so it allows us to collectively reflect on what this coming together has produced and how the national platform in turn speaks to the need of the hour for art schools in India.,” said FICA Director Vidya Shivadas, who was a member of the selection panel that identified the 15 young curators for SB 2016 in November 2015.
The panel also included KBF President Bose Krishnamachari, Director of Programmes Riyas Komu and Education Consultant Meena Vari – all of whom will participate in the conference.
The conference will address these topics, among others, through four panel discussions spread across two days that will see each participant make 15-minute presentations, which then open up into hour-long discussions. This collective brainstorming will provide a review of the process undertaken thus for as well as look at the road ahead for both the SB and Indian art schools.
Prior to the conference, the speakers will be led on a guided tour of SB 2016 by its curators on March 17. The unique exhibition – running parallel to and feeding off of the energies of the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale – features the artistic production of 465 students across 55 art schools from Shillong to Surat and Kashmir to Kalady visited by the 15 emerging curators. It is spread over seven sites in the historic Mattancherry-Jew Town area in close proximity to KMB 2016 venues.
“I believe that this conference will prove to be an excellent platform to question the existing system and provide constructive suggestions to bring about change at a national level in art education and its policy. The Students’ Biennale offers an effective testing ground f
or these possibilities because it has brought together theory and practice, where young curators get to work with the guidance of senior arts practitioners and educationists,” Komu said.