In an inspiring ‘Ted Talk’, actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke once said, “Catastrophes often push us towards art as we become desperate to make sense of this life. That’s when art becomes a sustenance instead of a luxury. We need it. Human creativity is natural, and it manifests in us.”

Some say that art is a natural accessory to human life, while others disagree with this statement. Renowned philosophers of ancient Greece like Socrates, Plato and Aristotle stated the theory of art as just an imitation of beauty or nature. Plato even criticised art and termed it ‘mimesis’ or imitation for failing to depict the eternal ideal realities. It was not until the beginning of the 19th century and the rise of Romanticism that this idea started to fade away, and art was emphasised as the expression of the artist’s emotions.

Therefore, the concept of art has been changing through the centuries, as its purpose has been defined as to represent reality, communicate emotions or ideas, create a sense of beauty, explore the nature of perception, explore formal elements for their own sake, or simply be nonexistent. The role of art has been changing over time, acquiring more of an aesthetic component here and a socio-educational function there. Artists have always been pushing themselves beyond the boundaries of each definition by challenging pre-existing conceptions.

The Statesman, on that account, brings to light a few artists with their artworks with the help of Ms Mallika Chanda, the entrepreneur and founder of ‘Daughtor Art Gallery’ who solely curated the event, The Salt Lake Affordable Art Fair.

Held on 2 and 3 March 2024, at the Aikatan Cultural Centre, the fair was the first of its kind and was designed to be accessible to all art enthusiasts, as affordability was the key focus therein. Inaugurated by Ms Mallika Chanda and Mr Qin Yong, the acting Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, this event featured over 100 talented artists like Satyabrata Karmakar, Nur Ali, Indrajit Narayan, Aditi Chakraborty and Syed Azhar and displayed more than 2,000 artworks, from paintings to sculptures and photography to mixed media. Live pottery sessions were also conducted to give hands-on experience.

“The false concept of depicting art as a luxury comes from the ignorance of knowledge about the creation of an art piece. The common herd will come and admire and often pick out art products from an exhibition or auction, but they don’t usually understand the effort and time devoted to creating such a piece. Hence, artists always do face the problem of finance, as the proper value of those artworks is not paid due to a lack of understanding,” said Mallika Chanda in a candid conversation with The Statesman.

“Therefore, I felt that it was my duty to create such a platform where artists could explain their artworks and even show how the work is done, for instance, the live pottery session, which will surely connect the hearts of the attendees with the artists. Art starts with the soul itself. It is only when the emotions of the artists cut the canvas that the art becomes famous. And such good things must have a price tag to retain their value, but not so high that it becomes extremely difficult to afford hoi polloi. Hence, I organised an affordable art fair where the highest price point of any artwork is Rs 20,000,” she added.

Aditi Chakraborty, an artist, displayed and sold ceramic works and abstract paintings highly inspired by Rabindranath Tagore’s poems and songs depicting nature and its spirituality. She, upon sharing her insights about people valuing art, cynically said, “People will think 10 times before buying an art piece and will still not buy it, calling it an unnecessary purchase rather than an investment or a life-long possession. On the contrary, those folks won’t think twice before spending money on a saree or a bottle of wine. Hence, making a living out of art initially has always been challenging.”

Another artist, Syed Azhar, was seen showcasing his own unique style of art, which in French is known as ‘Trompe l’oeil’ meaning one that deceives the eye. He said, “Art was already in my blood, as my father was also an artist. Unfortunately, due to the tragic state of artists, as faced by my father himself on real grounds, I was initially encouraged to enrol in architecture. However, I came back to my roots and succeeded in becoming an artist just like my father.”

Kaling Siboh, a 21-year-old from Arunachal Pradesh who attended such an art fair for the first time, was highly excited to be there. He even showed his enthusiasm for the pottery work and promised to enrol himself in pottery classes, which for him might be a necessity to heal from the boredom of the mundane cycles of life.