Many philosophers have repeatedly said, ‘Live in the present’. Their concern is that the present will slip out of hands because of the unnecessary baggage of the past and meaningless search in the darkness of future. The status of the present is subjective and just as it cannot jettison the baggage of good or bad past, it cannot be prevented from peeping into the pitch black darkness of the future.

Every present can cause some uneasiness. The individuals and communities, whose existence and security comes under threat, are restless. Individuals with conscience are always restless and if their restlessness remains unexpressed for whatever reason, they become more restless, resulting in an explosion of expression which ushers in the dawn of a revolution. It has been proved several times in history. Today, the existence of mankind is under threat in the entire world from Corona pandemic, making all – conscientious as well as dishonest, sensitive as well as insensitive- restless. The entire present is restless, hence the theme ‘Restless Present’.

Several sections of society, like doctors, sanitation workers, administrative officials, police personnel, etc. are combating the Corona pandemic risking their lives. This is an attempt to put forth the creative expression of some artists- painters, sculptors, photographers and poets- in a representative manner.

The title of the last chapter of ‘Artforms’ by Duane Preble and Sarah Preble is ‘What can art do for the present and the future?’. It is divided into: ‘Art reveals the problem’ and ‘Art helps form the solution’. If an artist has to fulfil the criteria, it is necessary to confront the present, analyse it in the proper context, get a proper perspective and provide a roadmap through artistic expression.

‘To be alive today’ has become a primary problem confronting mankind because of Corona pandemic. Right from an industrialist like Ratan Tata to a social worker in a village are saying, ‘Take care to be alive. Everything else can wait.’ But what it means for mankind to be alive? Is merely breathing means being alive? There are definitions ranging from ‘Man is a social animal’ to ‘Man is a laughing animal’ and today we witness broken men, cut off from socialness. He has also been barred from laughter. An Urdu poet has said, ‘Takallufsa Aa Hi Jaata Hai Mere Hansi Mein/Salika Bhul Chuka Hoon Muskurane Ka’, indicating that laughter has become so much of a bother for him because he has forgotten how to smile. Today’s man has become something like him. He has neither remained a laughing animal nor a social animal. Talking about ‘freedom’ is out of question.

However, it is noteworthy that inspite of the odds, man is fighting with a firm resolve to win.  In his novel, ‘The old man and the sea’, Ernest Hemingway has written, ‘But man is not made for defeat.’ He said, ‘A man can be destroyed but not defeated.’ Today we see every man battling Corona pandemic like a warrior and hence, an artist cannot be an exception. Besides, an artist is a human being first, then an artist, fighting on both fronts. For instance, artists in folkarts like ‘Tamasha’ whose lives are getting devastated.

On a short notice, a lockdown was clamped in the entire country imposing emergency measures to combat Corona pandemic, which has added to worsening of the already existing problems. Apart from health issues, the problems of unorganised daily-wage earners, migrant workers being shut out, suspension of transport services, a collapsed economy, mess in education system, confusion on Corona arising out of unclear instructions, insecurity and depression. A glance at the problems indicate that it manifests the principle of ‘Pratitsamutpaad’ that lays down the ‘cause and effect’ theory in Buddhism.

Taking into consideration the problems of the day, artists who have expressed themselves through their respective media like paintings, photographs and words, have, with some exceptions, primarily focussed on the effect than the cause.  Very few have indicated the causes in their artwork. Artists have expressed themselves within their capabilities and limitations of their medium on the ‘restless present’, manifesting their discomfort with the present times. Their momentary experiences expressed have made their artwork long-lasting. Hence, their artwork will continued to be valued today as well as in the future. Every artwork is not just unique but also dynamic and hence can be interpreted in various ways.

Sculpture

Painter and curator Prabhakar Kamble’s ‘Broken Foot’ makes an artistic comment on the ‘restless present’. Kamble and curator Rumi Samadhan had organised an online exhibition of artworks of 60 artists on the theme ‘Broken Foot: Unfolding Inequality’, still the ‘Broken Foot’ stands as an independent and great work of art, as it also manifests how the principle of social equality and justice envisaged in the constitution is being denied in the restless present. There are two plausible meanings of ‘unfolding equality’: stark exposure of inequality and continuance of or unending inequality. Of course, since this artwork is also dynamic like others, it can be interpreted in many other ways. ‘Broken Foot’ is a symbol of a broken society, which has been denied freedom, equality, fraternity and justice for centuries. It has been subjected to discrimination in the past and even during the times of Corona pandemic, is shamelessly visible. The rupture in the ‘Broken Foot’ manifests that the ‘broken people’ continue to carry the oozing wounds of centuries unabated. Another thing that comes to the fore while carefully examining the ‘Broken Foot’ is that even if it is a broken foot, it belongs to a handsome man but the artist has broken it vertically to make it ugly. In a way, he has delivered a blow to the traditional concept of beauty, negating traditional aesthetics, because it has no place in the world of broken people. Also, even if it is a foot, it is indicative of the broken foundation of the existence of an individual, society and country. It also manifests the feet of lakhs of migrant workers who walked hundreds of kilometres to reach their homes during the ongoing Corona pandemic. The foot, therefore, creates a feeling of guilt in the mind of a sensitive observer, who is forced to think that nothing can stand on a broken foundation. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in his ‘Annihilation of Caste’ has warned, ‘You cannot build anything on the foundation of caste. You cannot build up a nation, you cannot build up a morality, and anything that you will build on the foundation of caste will crack and will never be a whole.’ It means that nothing can be raised on the foundation of caste in this country. Nation and morality cannot raise anything and if it does, it will crack and never blend. Because, the foundation of caste means the foundation of inequality, slavery, hostility, injustice, fanaticism and jingoism, which runs contrary to the values of freedom, equality, fraternity, justice and secularism enshrined in the Indian constitution. This sculpture is all encompassing as it reveals the problem, searches its origin and hints at the solution.

Painting

Some artists have expressed themselves on the restless present against the backdrop of the ongoing Corona pandemic through their artworks.

The lockdown has multiplied the problems faced by workers who earn their livelihood by migrating from their homes to industrialised cities like Mumbai. They preferred the option of returning home, but could not find transportation facilities and lakhs of people were compelled to embark on unprecedented journeys of hundreds of kilometres on foot to return home. They included the elderly, pregnant women, children, sick people, who had to walk without food, water, medicine and transport. Some of them died en route. The plight of such workers have been portrayed in some of the artworks.

Sunil Avchar has sketched the pangs of migration and some of his artworks have been circulated on social media, evoking good response. In traditional and technical terms the artistic value of his sketches may not match the best, but his sketches have the power of moving the observer through his sincerity of portraying the stark reality and pinpointing the anguish in his subject.  Besides, he has also expressed himself on dishonest and partisan media as well as communal violence effectively, thereby making his sketches pierce the brains of viewers.

Anwar Hussein has also expressed himself on migrants through his paintings, which depict groups of migrants walking barefoot. His lines are precise and clear. The migrant labourers carry baggage on their heads and shoulders and hands, with children in tow. Groups of such migrants, who are insecure, uncertain and unsafe are seen trudging on highways with the backdrop of tall buildings standing on the efforts of their labour, but not belonging to them. Even after constructing hundreds of buildings, labourers remain homeless, manifesting the irony in tragic human lives. Scenes like these are moving and evoke a sense of guilt in the mind of the observer.

Vikrant Bhise has also chosen to portray the pangs of migrant labourers in his sketches and paintings, including the one in which a woman is carrying an infant in one hand and baggage in the other, depicting her firm resolve to face life. In another artwork, there are labourers carrying baggage and kids on shoulders, as well as migrants travelling in a tanker in a cramped and life-threatening situation. One of his artwork shows a skinny human being reduced to a walking corpse, carrying baggage, while in another, a Corona treatment centre shows the horrifying situation faced by patients and pinpoints the lack of healthcare amenities. The artworks effectively convey the restlessness of the day, its causes and hint at possible solutions.

Pisurvo takes a serious view of the restless present. In one of his artwork, two persons walk in different directions. Both are hefty (resembling figures portrayed in the 1970s, by artists influenced by the Phule-Ambedkar movement) and carry huge burdens, like Atlas in Greek mythology carrying the earth. These people have not committed any mistake but yet are subjected to life-threatening pain. A careful look at the artwork makes one think that if they start questioning the cause of their anguish, it will end their tolerance and may cause them to retaliate.

Sanjeev Sonpimpare’s artworks are like a chronology of illtreatment and torture of human beings by human beings. The geometrically guillotined heads rolling out retain the facial expression of the anguish typically frozen before going to the gallows, irrespective of religion or culture, revealing the inevitability of being a victim.  Such artworks reveal a series of cold murders, like the murder of Rohit Vemula by a skewed education system. The artwork depicting Rohit Vemula is inspirational. In future, there may be many Rohit Vemulas, but they will not commit suicide like him but would confront the system. Sonpimpare is an example of a committed artist.

Suresh Pandit has expressed himself on the restless present with an artwork titled ‘Ni:Shabd’ (speechless). It is a strong statement by a sensitive artist that stuns the observer.

Nandkumar Jogdnand’s artworks are like sharp weapons, which attack the established casteiest and religious system with vigour. He does it repeatedly with symbolism and imagery that fuses with the theme seamlessly. His artworks are a powerful expression of social commitment in the Phule-Ambedkar social movement.

Raju Baviskar presents the plight of people who are living horrible lives that are of lower standards than those of ordinary people. He portrays their daily struggle, triggering a feeling of guilt in the mind of the observer. In one of his sketches, he has portrayed a broken footwear on which a man is sleeping, while dogs are pulling the strap. It is reminiscent of a short story ‘Smashanatala Sona’ (gold in crematorium) by Annabhau Sathe, in which a pack of foxes and character Bhima desperately compete for the dead body and a piece of gold jewellery, respectively, in the crematorium. In Baviskar’s artwork, the footwear and the man have perfectly fused, falling to the same level. It is an effective symbol of human tragedy and there could be a series of such pictures, with various forms. His commitment towards the plight of devastated people at the bottom of the social structure is the strength of his art.

Gopal Gangawane has amalgamated human experience with human intelligence to comment on the current restlessness. In his ‘The Thinker’ that resembles the image of Auguste Rodin’s world famous statue of the thinker. Rodin’s thinker is a naked, strong man in a pensive mood, revealing strength and concentration. However, Gangawane’s artwork depicts the power of man in a different manner. It shows how power can create inequality. There is a ‘Roti’ in a glass box in front of the thinker and three malnourished children (reminding one of three monkeys of Gandhiji) are sitting around it. It appears that the hefty thinker is guarding the ‘Roti’ encased in the glass box, from the skinny hungry children who need it desperately. The artwork indicates how superpowers in the world have created inequalities and ironies in the lives of human beings. The artwork creates a feeling of restlessness.

Another painting by him portrays the image of sleeping Buddha with a deer sitting nearby without any fear. The title of the painting is ‘Metta’ means friendship, which is inherent in Buddhist doctrines. In Buddhist tenets friendship extends beyond human beings, to birds, animals and the entire nature. In Dhammapada, there is a couplet which says that enmity does not end by countering it with enmity, but can end only with love. The artwork has relevance in current times because a search through ancient history of thousands of years would reveal that mankind is responsible for the present situation. Today, mankind may be irked by Corona virus, but for thousands of years, humans have devastated nature, birds and animals in the obsession to establish supremacy over everything on earth. Gangawane’s Metta places before the world the choice of ‘universal love’ in a restless world.

Mayuri Chari’s artworks are based on the Buddha-Phule-Ambedkar school of thought as enshrined in the Indian constitution, especially gender equality. She weaves her art on cloth and in one of her artworks, a lady is cycling with a man sitting behind. It is obviously from the lockdown period as both are wearing masks. The title is ‘Liberty’. In another artwork titled ‘Equality’, a lady is carrying her child, who is probably a girl. Another picture is titled ‘Justice’ and her choice clearly indicates her commitment towards the egalitarian principles of the constitution and attempts to bring them centrestage.

The art of Tejaswini Sonawane is somewhat similar to that of Mayuri Chari as both express themselves on cloth. However, unlike Chari, Sonawane resorts to block-printing which Raja Ravi Varma had used for creating mass production of images of Goddess Laxmi, Goddess Saraswati, etc. Sonawane uses wood and metal instead of stone, to creatively express the feminist viewpoint and amalgamated images of humans, animals and birds. Humans have attributed certain qualities to animals, like faithfulness to dogs and cunningness to foxes. The artist has combined images across species to contemplate on human identity and make the viewer think.

Photography

Padmashri Sudharak Olwe is a renowned international photographer with social commitment shaped by the trajectory of Buddha-Phule-Ambedkar school of thought. Hence, he has shocked the civilised elite world by bringing the lives of people, who are otherwise invisible to the cultured world, –like sanitation workers, malnourished children, tribals and adolescent mothers- on their coffee table. During the ongoing lockdown he has risked his life and hit the streets to photograph deserted roads, railway stations, closed shops, migrant labourers, police personnel on duty, health personnel screening Corona patients, etc. He has caged contemporary Mumbai for historical record. He has visited the Dharavi slum area to click pictures during the lockdown and come up with photographs like a man wearing a mask, sitting idle in a narrow lane.

Poetry

Some poets have expressed themselves in Marathi on the current situation arising out of Corona pandemic and lockdown.

Pratibha Jagdale has penned an apt poem with witty comments on the current situation in which everything has come to a standstill. She describes deserted roads and an environment of inactivity in a city that even dogs find strange. She appears to be convinced that human beings would continue to be selfish and jingoistic. Dayasagar Banne’s poetry expresses the anguish of daily-wage earners during the lockdown period. Manisha Patil writes on the stark external reality during lockdown and the mental turmoil of urban citizens. Dr Anil Madke is a doctor by profession but a serious poet. He writes on his experience and knowledge in the medical world and warns mankind of the dire consequences of destroying nature.

Artists have creatively expressed themselves using their skills in different media on the restless contemporary world. Will it be cathartic for those who view it? If it does, it will educate, empower and satiate, thereby improving the mindset of people, as is believed in case of Greek tragedies and literature. There are similar tragedies in ‘Theri Gatha’ in Buddhist literature, but they still await the attention of scholars and artists.

A glance at the artworks reveals that they are all secular and hence, a part of the Secular Art Movement. One meaning of secularism is that it is worldly and these artworks comment on worldly things and events. Besides, all artworks- sculptures, paintings, photography and poetry- have not been created only to earn money. Artworks will be exhibited and some may be sold, but the primary thing is social commitment and the quest for fulfilment of egalitarian values enshrined in the constitution.

Prof. Gautamiputra Kamble

Philosopher, Author, Educationist