Art of the matter

"Art is a wonderful activity. It allows you to be free and provides a richness to one’s life,” says Delhi-based art historian, Anita Dube who has arrived in the city to participate in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. She’s delighted that something as grand as Biennale is happening in the art firmament. “It is the first Biennale in our country and I am excited. Kochi is an interesting location for such an endeavour. It has lot of history attached to it,” says this art critic turned artist.

She also feels that one does not require a lot of money to create art. “Everyone is an artist and can create many wonderful things. In our country we only see artists who more or less take to painting as a profession. I think we have to start thinking out of the box,” says this 54 year old. Anita does not like to be tagged as a painter. “I am basically a sculptor. Other interests of mine are photography, installations, performing art and creating videos,” she says. She explains about ‘performing arts’ “Like cooking and choreography, all are a kind of performing art. In the art world, artists work with their own bodies and other daily objects. It is entirely different from theatre.” She has performed this style both in India and abroad. “In one performance art, I used a delicate scalpel to carve provocative words out of buffalo meat. Then the carved words were called for a debate on issues related to art history,” she says.

Being a woman artist, she feels that nothing comes easy. “It was not a cakewalk. Initially, I faced lot of challenges but once you are convinced that you want to do a certain thing, the difficulties are less. Do not expect success from the start,” says Anita. Initially trained as an art historian and critic, Anita Dube creates works with a conceptual language. She concentrates on world contemporary art. “I like to learn things of the 20th and 21st century,” says Anita who is also a member of the Indian Radical Painters and Sculptors Association, a self-styled political grouping of artists in the late 80s.

She also employs a variety of objects like foam, plastic, wire, thread, beads, velvet, bone and ceramic eyes in her art pieces. “My art deals with the human problems. It asks questions like why women are looked down upon, and the like.”

Anita who is in the city will be sharing her work and experience in a slide show presentation. There is also a talk being organised on her works at Children’s Park Auditorium on August 14 at 5.30 pm.