The Alla Prima International Art ended on a sour note with artists slamming the organisers for shoddy arrangements. Some pivotal works, including that of SH Raza, have been damaged, reports Shrabasti Mallik
If you visit the official website of Alla Prima International Art, you are welcomed by the glorious stills showing spectators gazing at precious works of world-renowned artists. But when we visited the ground on the closing day of the fair at Talkatora Stadium, we were shocked and confused in equal measure. Artworks were damaged by the rains, water was floating in the canopies and the artists were rushing from pillar to post crying foul about the loss of their works. The organisers were seen denying all charges yet looked dazed and confused.
For Japanese artist Kurihara it was a nightmare come alive when his documents including passport, visa, two laptops and cash amount worth Rs 2.5 lakh were stolen from the fair premise. While the artist was unavailable to comment, fellow exhibiting artists confirmed about the theft. However, Rajiv Chakraborty, MD of the fair told us, “He lost his belongings outside the Talkatora Stadium.” Although the four-day fair officially ended yesterday, artists had begun to wrap Sunday onwards citing “lukewarm response”. Artists alleged that the organisers goofed up the whole show and misinformed them at various stages. The international artists were disappointed by the reality which was nowhere close to the promises made by the organisers. “Forget about collectors, buyers and media hangouts, they didn’t keep the basic facilities,” pointed out artist Sauchi Khanna. The fair which claimed to bring stalwarts of contemporary art from all over the world under one roof did not see any visitors, according to the artists. “How will people know of the fair if there are no advertisementsIJ We spent four days of the fair looking at each other’s works,” she added.
The rains also washed out several pivotal works incurring a loss of approx Rs15 lakh. While wooden frames stuck out of the canvas boards many paintings also caught the moisture from the weather. There were also a few paintings that were contributed by eminent artist SH Raza which bore the brunt of the mismanagement. Organisers, however, had made no attempt to shift the masterpieces to drier places. “Moisture is fatal for a canvas. It destroys it because it is difficult to dry the moisture which eventually develops fungus. Fortunately none of my works have been destroyed but it was saddening to see so many damaged artworks,” said a crestfallen Arun Kumar Samadder, renowned artist from Kolkata.
Few artists did not leave their work behind and guarded them overnight. Manoj Rajput from Rhishikesh was one of them. He said, “The security guards said that they were neither instructed nor paid to watch over the art works at night. They demanded Rs800 from all the artists per night to do the job. I stayed back all nights to protect my works.” He also recounted how on Sunday night he had to jump on top of a table to save himself from being electrocuted. “The entire place in the makeshift tent was filled with water and there were electrical wires underneath the carpet. Around midnight, there was a short circuit from one of the wires and the entire place was plunged into darkness. I had to take refuge on top of a table for more than four hours before somebody arrived to look into the situation,” he added.
The fair was initially scheduled from October 5-9 at Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts. But when the venue and dates were changed, none of the exhibitors were informed in advance. “It was only on October 3 that Rajiv Chakraborty, mailed us all stating that the dates have changed. He did not mention the change in venue which we got to know after we reached here,” said Nand Kishore Sharma, an exhibitor from Rajasthan. The communication gap led to monetary loss for many artists who had already booked their accommodation and tickets. Vineet Kharat, an artist from Maharashtra told us, “We had spent Rs25,000 on cards which listed our exhibits. After the date and venue was changed the organisers told us to paste stickers over the information. We spent another chunk of money on a second set of cards because we did not want to present a card with stickers at an international art fair.” The price of booking was also not fixed. Various artistes were charged different rates for the same area.
“The original blue print of the fair layout was completely different from what we have been given,” Salvadore Fernandez from Goa who had shifted his paintings on Sunday. “I did not take a risk of leaving them here. These artworks are very precious,” he said, “plus, on whose assurance do I leave my workIJ There were no security guards as stray dogs roamed inside the fair tent all the time.”
However the organisers refuted all charges. “We had provided Z+ security at the venue all the days and not a single person was allowed inside without a proper scan. There are a few artists who had not paid their share of the money for their allocation at the fair. Only those people are creating nuisance.” He added, “While there has been monetary loss, there were no artworks which were destroyed. There were a few paintings which were kept on the ground and they might have gotten a bit wet but there were NCC scouts who were quick to place them on an elevated level. The water did not drip from the top; it only collected on the floor. Paintings and photographs are meant to be hanged and not kept on the ground.”
Artists have lodged a police complaint. “Artists from other states will also lodge a complaint in their respective states against the organisers so that no other artists are cheated in this manner in the future,” declared artist Sauchi Khanna.
photos Sanjeev Kumar