Public art, private initiative
During a talk at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) held around the time of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress in 2013, art connoisseur Pheroza Godrej bemoaned the lack of public art in Bombay. Aside from a few Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse figures and statues of politicians there is not much added in recent times. In the past, according to Dr Simin Patel who runs the bombaywalla.org blog, there were drinking fountains and clocks in public places but these were more civic amenities for the benefit of the public and would not classify as art, though they may have added to the aesthetic value of the location. Wikipedia defines public art as "art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all."
Thus it was a pleasant occasion when renowned sculptor Arzan Khambatta’s memorial to INS Vikrant was unveiled outside Lion Gate, a stone’s throw away from the Scottish Kirk or Church of St Andrews and the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute. Keeping in mind the neglect and eventual disappearance of reputed sculptor Piloo Pochkhanawala’s Spark at the busy Haji Ali intersection many years ago, we asked Khambatta who would maintain the Vikrant Memorial. (Spark was replicated in miniature, courtesy HSBC Bank, and now stands at the traffic island opposite the NGMA. It is barely noticeable. No models were available to copy from and the sculpture was recommissioned using an old photograph.)
Khambatta pointed to the Lion Gate, one of the several gateways to the Bombay docks and said the Navy would look after the metal scrapture made from salvaged pieces of the former aircraft carrier commissioned in 1961, decommissioned in 1997 and sent to the scrap yard in 2014.
Cmde Medioma Bhada who flew sorties from her deck during the 1971 Bangladesh War and who along with others tried unsuccessfully to preserve the vessel as a museum-cum-memorial, initiated the move for the sculpture. He and Khambatta visited the Darukhana ship breaking yard at Mazgaon and they selected pieces from what remained for the memorial. "I managed to acquire a little over a ton and a half of material at my cost," he informed Parsiana (see "Memorial for INS Vikrant," Events and Personalities, May 21, 2015). Several meetings were held with the naval officials and the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC), etc to work out the formalities. At the unveiling high ranking naval officials were present as well as the municipal commissioner.
Even today one sees many ancient landmarks in need of attention. The Bomanjee Hormusjee Wadia clock tower on Perin Nariman Street was in disrepair, with vendors and others using it to store their scarce goods and belongings. Citizens such as Hemen Shah who has his offices in the vicinity including one on Perin Nariman Street wrote countless letters to the municipality and others urging them to maintain the deteriorating landmark. The Mid-day of January 29, 2016 refers to Meherangiz Parvarish, a resident of the area who sent "umpteen letters...and phone calls to officials" of the BMC Heritage Department.
Finally the municipality consented to take the repairs in hand under the eye of noted conservation architect Vikas Dilawari but not before vandals stole the clock’s two hands. An old gas light inside the tower also disappeared, according to Kayomi Engineer, the administrative director of the Kala Ghoda Association (KGA), a non-profit organization "that works to maintain and preserve the heritage and art district of South Bombay," as stated by the newspaper. KGA is funding the restoration, publisher Maneck Davar, who heads the Association, told Parsiana. The Khada Parsi statue at Byculla has fortunately been knowledgeably restored by the BMC. The services of conservation architects is essential to ensure that in the eagerness to spruce up edifices, further damage is not caused.
While on the one hand one struggles to maintain whatever aesthetic heritage one has, on the other hand one cannot neglect commissioning new works. Parsi properties are sadly bereft of public art, and often even a respectable garden. (A few notable exceptions are the female figurines atop water fountains seen at Doongerwadi, the Seth Hormasji Bomanji Wadia Atash Behram and the Abuwala Parsi Infirmary, Navsari. In addition two plaster of Paris or marble lions stand atop the pillars supporting the Infirmary gate.) Little initiative is taken to beautify our colonies despite having outstanding architects and artists in our midst. The trustees and the residents blame each other for this state of affairs. The trustees often state the residents refuse to pay even nominal increases while the tenants state the trustees do not take them into confidence, seldom visit the colony and keep them waiting for hours before meeting them. How does one rectify this lacuna? Just pouring in money is not the answer. Well meaning benefactors may offer to commission a work but will the finished product qualify as art? One has seen the ugly fibreglass cows in the traffic island outside Churchgate Station. The only saving grace is that the surrounding greenery to some extent hides these gaudy colored bovines from public view.
Who defines what constitutes art? The debate can go on endlessly but for community purposes the commissioned artist should be of public standing and one whose works have been exhibited and sold, both in India and abroad. There are enough knowledgeable connoisseurs of art within the community who are capable of deciding on the merits of any proposed art installation. And there are philanthropists who value art (and pay astronomical prices to acquire Indian and foreign artworks). But the initiative has to come from the local residents and the trustees. You also need someone sufficiently motivated like Bhada to see the project through. At the 250th Navsari Atash Behram celebrations and the Iranshah Udvada Utsav, both in end 2015, the priests took the initiative and both efforts were hugely popular and well received. Now it is the turn of the laity to show what they can do to enhance the quality of public life.