THE PROCESS
Beginning in 2015, for about five years, I ran Home Sweet Home as an exhibition series operating out of domestic spaces to exhibit works of art. In 2021, we transitioned into an online research and publication space to explore themes that emerge out of studying independent initiatives in the arts in India. To focus on this transition, we temporarily paused work on curating the exhibition series.
The online research and publication platform hosts a combination of commissioned essays, interviews, an extensive open-access list of self-organized, independent initiatives, archival materials of various such initiatives, and a reading list including book reviews on the themes of independent initiatives in the arts. This is one of the first attempts to create a platform dedicated to non-mainstream arts initiatives with an aim to explore the numerous themes and underlying concerns inherent to these practices.
Independent initiatives can take various forms, including but not limited to exhibition spaces, archival explorations, publications, festivals, residencies, academic or research spaces, collective studios, resource building, curatorial projects, platforms for dissent, a drawing party, a film club, and more. While these manifestations may differ in form, a common thread among them is that they are typically run by individuals or collectives within the arts community, often with limited financial resources. Some of these initiatives eventually go on to establish a somewhat stable system of financial support, but not all of them do. What sets them apart from mainstream art spaces is their direct independence from the art market. This also means that many of these initiatives are ‘temporary’ and often short-lived. While there is no single term that universally defines such initiatives, over time, several labels have emerged and gained popularity, such as “alternative,” “artist-led,” “self-organized,” “independent initiatives,” “DIY” (Do It Yourself), and “DIT” (Do It Together). In the past year, I’ve observed that artists continue to articulate their practices in different ways, giving rise to newer and more diverse terminology that align more closely with individual goals, as opposed to being mapped onto generic labels.
What motivates artists, curators, and cultural workers to invest their time, resources, and energy in creating independent spaces, platforms, or initiatives? These undertakings are not solely linked to the act of creating art or curating, as they require individuals or collectives to tackle and master administrative tasks, maintain financial records, engage in editorial work, acquire ancillary new skills such as website design or space design, and mobilize resources through collective efforts. In this journey, artists often find it necessary to develop their writing skills as well, as it represents a creative form that is typically not extensively cultivated by visual artists. So, why bother with all this when most are skilled practitioners in their own medium and field?
The impulse to build spaces and platforms by artists stems from a need to respond to increasingly restrictive and codified art spaces, market-driven galleries, the state’s hold on national museums, and ever-shrinking space for creative and experimental expressions. This has been a common thread that has emerged time and again in many discussions with artists. Acting on this impulse, artists/curators and sometimes cultural workers build new collaborative relationships with other art practitioners and audiences and create their own structures and institutions. In a country like India, where there is next to no support from the state for artists, many young graduates are forced to leave the field and those who stay, survive by working part-time gigs and side jobs within the arts or art-adjacent fields. These economic and political circumstances have led artists to find ways to generate cultural capital from their work and from their labor outside the mainstream art market.
There is much to unpack in these discussions around the circumstances shaping the art context, and its limitations. While much has been written about these limitations in recent times, here, I want to focus on a different dimension behind the creation of such platforms in an independent capacity. Curatorial work, in its broadest sense, is an intrinsic part of the creative process and thus, an argument can be made that the creation of such initiatives that are not obvious ‘artworks’ is an extension of the artistic process, often emerging from concerns that are reflected in the larger practices of individuals.
When we think about artistic processes, we can easily imagine scrapbooks, sketchbooks, collections, archives, and a method of working that ultimately results in the creation of artworks—something that can be exhibited, published, and presented publicly in their final forms. A recent trend on social media platforms like Instagram is that of galleries and arts festivals in India sharing ‘behind the scenes’ videos. These videos offer glimpses into artists’ studios, where they guide the camera around the space, discussing their work processes and daily routines, all of which directly contribute to their artmaking.
However, I believe that the artistic process is not confined solely to diaries, sketchbooks, or the studio’s physical space. Instead, it can be viewed as an expanded practice that encompasses various activities and the motivations behind those activities. These activities may not easily fit under the umbrella of “art” or be directly linked to the act of creating art, but they are integral to the overall creative journey.
In this context, I argue that the creation of independent initiatives in the arts represents a facet of the artistic process, thereby expanding the possibilities of what constitutes the artistic process itself. While artmaking as we know it is often a solitary journey, engaging in the collective effort of establishing a platform or independent initiative brings individuals closer to other practices, ideas, thoughts, and processes.
Also, why should art be confined to a form, medium, or material existence? Must it always neatly fit onto a wall, a screen, or manifest as a public installation with its meaning distilled into a hundred-word explanation? Artistic thinking, concerns, struggles, and desire manifest in forms beyond the familiarity of what art is supposed to be and meant to be—the creation of independent initiatives is often an extension of artistic practices. By this logic, we have to expand the meaning of practice and process in the creation of collectives, collaborations, and self-organized spaces—entities that may not be singular works of art, but are instead ever-evolving processes.
SAF FELLOWSHIP SHOWCASE
Expore the installation hosted by ASAP Grantee Shalmai Shetty at the 2023 edition of Serendipity Arts Festival.
