When artists put ‘people back into the pictures’, marking a critical moment in India’s modernism
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Emerging against the backdrop of Indira Gandhi’s Emergency (1975-77) and her subsequent return to power in 1980, the landmark exhibition Place for People mirrored the pedagogic approach and practice demonstrated by the teachers and the artists associated with the Baroda school. Conceived as a collaborative venture between Geeta Kapur and the participating artists, the exhibition’s pictorial narratives ranged from externalised depictions of street life to introspective portrayals of private space.
The expressed intent of the exhibition – ‘to let the people come back into the pictures and tell their stories’ – echoes the sentiments expressed by Kapur at the ‘Figurative and Abstract Art’ symposium and the silence of the Emergency. Bringing together mid-career artists such as Gulammohammed Sheikh, Bhupen Khakhar and Jogen Chowdhury, and introducing three younger voices: Vivan Sundaram, Nalini Malani and Sudhir Patwardhan, Place for People positioned itself as a radical, democratic intervention.
Not all of these artists were products of MSU Baroda and had diverse educational backgrounds. The populist title of the exhibition and its claim to articulate a definitive sense of ‘place’ suggests the exhibition was designed to resonate within a broader social, artistic and political milieu. This objective was evident not only in the artworks but also in...