Sometime in the mid-1970s, four artists- M.S.Nanjunda Rao, M.J. Kamalakshi, Y. Subramanya Raju and Nagarathna Rao- hopped into a taxi and toured the city of Bangalore for three days. They weren’t sightseeing of course but scouting for a suitable location to establish an art haven in the city. Finally, they settled on a wild three acre wide thicket next to the Chief Minister’s bungalow on Kumara Krupa Road. They conveyed their choice to the then Chief Minister, Devaraj Urs and desperately hoped that he would say yes to build a dedicated space for both the learning and sustenance of the arts in general, fine arts and indigenous crafts in particular.
Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary and the Joint Secretary of the State- T.P.Issar and Chiranjiv Singh visited the site and felt that an arts space, one that did not exist hitherto, would indeed make sense there. They coaxed the Chief Minister too to give permission and hence, the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath was set up at its current premises.
In more ways than one, this collaboration between artists and the State is emblematic of the Parishath’s 50-year-long journey. At every step, the institution has been nurtured, almost in equal measure, by both the State as well as the artists’ community of the city- perhaps a tangible example of patronage in the 20th and 21st century. “It all began when Kengal Hanumanthiah, the Chief Minister of the Mysore State, while building the Vidhana Soudha had called for a tender for an arts-related endeavour. All applicants happened to be artists from outside Karnataka. Startled at the lack of applicants from the State, Hanumanthiah is believed to have summoned M. Aryamurthy, a senior artist and urged him to form an organisation of artists. Aryamurthy then set up the Mysore Chitrakala Parishath at his garage in his house on Double Road in Shantinagar,” recalls Dr. B.L.Shankar, the president of the Parishath today. Later, the Parishath became an arts college, Chitrakala Vidyalaya and was housed in the top floor of Gandhi Sahitya Sangha in Malleswaram. A diploma course was taught there by M.S.Nanjunda Rao, M. Gopal and S.S.Kukke.
The first recipient of the diploma was a young woman, M.J.Kamalakshi, who went on to become a professor of painting and also served as the joint secretary of the Parishath later. She was also one among the four in the taxi that day. And interestingly, it was Kamalakshi who took me around an exhibition of photographs from CKP’s archive as she told its story on its 50th birthday.
“After getting the diploma, I began teaching at the Vidyalaya. Gradually, our activities began to increase. That was when we realised we needed a bigger space. Subramanya Raju, Nanjunda Rao and I would go everywhere together to invite people, get grants etc. Eventually, we had the land alright. But now we needed to make this new space popular to the people as an art haven,” remembers Kamalakshi. So, a 45-day-long All India Tribal Arts and Crafts Exhibition was held in January 1977 to popularise the new premises, the chairperson of which was Vimala Rangachar.
As much as the story of Chitrakala Parishath is about the institution and its evolution, it is also equally about the individuals who shaped it along the way. Almost everyone from fields such as literature, culture, dance, music etc. rallied around the cause and contributed to CKP and its growth, says Kamalakshi. The foremost among them is of course, M.S.Nanjunda Rao, the founder-secretary of CKP. Described as the ‘heart and soul’ of CKP, everyone remembers MSN Rao as a persistent man. “Nanjunda Rao had a vision. He did not confine himself to painting alone. He slogged to get everyone together and make Chitrakala a vibrant space. He was very soft spoken but a persistent man, one who insisted on finishing what he took up,” said Vimala Rangachar.
“Nanjunda Rao would trek from office to office to get funds, grants and people. If leather puppetry has survived in Karnataka, it is because of him,” says Chiranjiv Singh. In 1977, after the exhibition was over, the huts built for it were retained and classes were conducted there. “Gradually, a building, a museum, a gallery- all of it was conceived of and built. Until then, classrooms were in the wild, and rocks were the tables and chairs for our students,” says Kamalakshi.
If one has to gain an idea of the popularity and prestige of the institution over the years, all one has to do is take a look at its visitors list (some of whom stayed longer than a visit would warrant). And this list was gleaned rather easily from the exhibition of photographs from CKP’s archive: Russian artist, Svetoslav Roerich for instance, who inaugurated the Chitrakala Vidyalaya in 1964 stayed with CKP until his final days; Artist M. Veerappa donated chairs and tables to the art school; B.C.Sanyal, Ramnivas Mirza, Ratan Parimoo, K.G.Subrahmanyan, M.F.Hussain, examined the collections at CKP and even showed their own work at its premises.
The list is endless and is fascinating for it reveals the involvement of visionaries such as Da Ra Bendre, Mulk Raj Anand, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Karl Khandalvala, Dr. C. Sivaramamurthy to name simply a few. And since CKP hosted performances as well, dancers and musicians such as Padma Subramanyan, Pratibha Prahlad, Mallika Sarabhai, Dr. R.K. Suryanarayana, Shyamala G. Bhave, Mysore Ananthswamy, Rajan Sajan Mishra, Girish Karnad, B.V.Karanth etc. were among those who frequented the space.
“We didn’t need books! All we needed was to listen to a few of these people talk and history and art came alive. Books could not have done justice to the conversations that one listened to and learnt from at that time,” recalls Kamalakshi.
In the last five decades, CKP has divided its collections into thirteen categories: Roerich, S.S.Kukke, H.K.Kejriwal’s works are some among them.Then, there is a sculpture section, traditional painting section, folk, Budakattu, Leather puppetry and so on.
What does it take for an institution of this kind to survive and sustain itself?
“Well, if it was just a group of artists, we would have perished long ago. But, because we have a thriving college, the engagement with the arts is an everyday affair and hence inescapable,” says Kamalakshi.
When the college began in 1964, it offered a five-year diploma. Gradually, in 1983, an affiliation with Bangalore University was sought and BFA, MFA degrees and now a Ph.D too are awarded. Today, the college has around 500 students and 28 teachers, including those visiting.“The Parishath was conceived as a one-stop space wherein you will have arts education, a museum, a gallery and also a space where performances will happen. All stakeholders will have something to gain from here. Now, this has to be sustained in the future,” says Kamalakshi. “What is an institution? It is a place where students can be together and learn. It is about a community. And such spaces should host other arts and crafts too because they expose students to allied arts and get ideas from them. We must continue to bring in sister arts and urge students to think differently and for this, the organisation, along with support from the Government, should stay in the hands of artists alone!” says Rangachar. And so, the 50-year juncture has prompted both B.L.Shankar and Kamalakshi to think actively about the future of CKP.
They say, they are a little anxious about the future. “The truth is that CKP is yet to match up to institutions such as MSU Baroda or Shantiniketan. We need to invest in infrastructure. The waiting list for galleries is close to 8 months. We need an exclusive museum for Karnataka artists and for certain art forms that are close to extinction. The PhD programme too needs more focus,” says Shankar.
“We need more people who know about art to manage and conserve our collections. Back in the 1970s, people came together because they believed in a combined vision and put the institution before themselves. Today, I’m a little worried that the individual comes before the institution,” says Kamalakshi finally.
Another Chitrakala Parishath
A prototype of CKP is all set to come up in Kengeri, next to JSS College. The State Government in its previous budget has sanctioned Rs.20 crores for the construction of a new (additional) campus of CKP, out of which Rs.8 crores have already been dispatched. “This space will have everything- a museum, a gallery, a space for artists to practise, a college etc.It will take 4-5 years to be fully set up,” says Shankar
