Ruminations……Audiences and Other Things
Lina Vincent Sunish
In this fluctuating art market and economic slump ‘viewers’ become a priority, not only for monetary aspect but also for retaining and spreading the value of ‘art’. Lina Vincent Sunish addresses this issue as galleries and artists continue their struggle to attract ‘viewers’.
“Where is the audience!?” lamented my friend, Ms X, as we spoke about the situation in our respective art fields (hers being theatre, and mine of course visual art practice). “They’re all at the malls..” I replied without hesitation. I asked her if she did the right marketing, and then we decided that there were too many things going on simultaneously, which is why the meagre audience for cultural events was split up into bits. All of us, in some way or the other, have been through the exercises and debates on ‘HOW TO GENERATE NEW AUDIENCE’; not only because we are tired of seeing the same faces everywhere (though we love them dearly) or that old clients don’t buy anymore (it’s not only about money!) but because we feel a kind of stagnancy and a need to reach out to more – art is meant to be shared isn’t it? Several ideas are floating around different art centres. At the NGMA in Bangalore, currently famous for its picturesque outdoor cafeteria, ideas are being thrown around about how to get the ‘eaters’ into the museums, and also increase revenue. (A) Shift the ticket booth to the gate entrance, so whether anyone is just coming to the cafeteria, they will have to get a ticket (B) make a detour route through the museums to the cafeteria, so that every single person is forced to look at the art (C) catch ‘em young! Introduce more and more school visits and students programs in the galleries so that young ones can develop a familiarity and understanding with art and aesthetics. Most adults have already reached their limit of their learning curves… (D) Add art advertisements in the Menu cards. I’m definitely in support of (C), and I might have made up (B).
Ok the newest fad in Bangalore is the ‘art café’ phenomenon – while the NGMA is trying to drive people away from the food and towards the art, several spaces in the city are turning the other way around, put the art where the food is. Whether that works in the way it did for the wonderful Kashi Café in Kochi, we have to wait and watch. While on attracting the public, I must mention the tremendous success that the Rangoli art centre located in the centre of Bangalore at the Metro station. The curator, Surekha, and the team at Rangoli have slowly and steadily demonstrated that the democratisation of an art space can certainly build new audience. They maybe tourists or drifters through the shopping district – but nevertheless willing to engage with art, packaged without the baggage of the ‘elitist fine art white cube’. What helps is the random mix of categories – art, craft, theatre, literature, environmental activism, dance, poetry, interactive art, performance, education, history – the many overlapping subjects within the five relegated spacesat Rangoli allow the said audience never to feel isolated in their attraction towards a particular form, and always have the freedom to move on to another space if something appears lacking or their artistic knowledge does not stand them in good stead.
