A wide canvas

Geetu Hinduja has a lot on her palette this November. Apart from her art consultancy and a music performance in Ahmedabad last week, she will be presenting three exhibitionsu00a0-- 'Unknown Changes,' works by Santana Gohain which is on till November 7; 'The Real, the Abstract...,' works by Ganesh Gohain, November 22 - 29, at the Museum Gallery and then 'Changing Skin', works by 23 artists, curated by Marta Jakimouice, from November 24-December 8, at Coomaraswamy Hall, Kala Ghoda. Geetu has an art-to-heart with CS:

Good draw
I've been representing a small stable of artists and doing around eight to 10 shows a year depending on my life. Santana and Ganesh Gohain are Assamese artists based in Baroda and I've known them for a very long time.

Santana has always been clear about what she wants and is really one of the least confused people I know.



She has been experimenting with print-making and her work is all about the process, layers and effects she creates. Ganesh is also showing his paintings this time (he is basically a sculptor), but even his paintings are on a sculptural scale. His work is his response to life and all his learnings. He focuses on detail and it's really worth seeing.

I have not curated Changing Skin; that's Marta's baby, she's the one who has decided on the concept and executed it. I'm just the puppeteer who brings it all together. But it promises to be an exciting show and has many good artists showing their work.

Back to the beginning
I've always been artistically inclined, although I didn't do anything much with it at the start. My mum paints well and I was fairly good at all the usual embroidery, knitting and crotchet in school. I learnt to play the guitar in my teens (we used to be these cool three-four Cuffe Parade gals carrying a guitar around going to our classes.

Quite eye-catching in those days!) Then I studied interior decoration at J J School of Arts. But ours was a traditional business family and I was married off into another business family.

I had a lot of free time in which I took singing lessons, travelled around the world, where I got to see a lot of art. It all started as a hobby. Today, I give presentations on the business of art (smiles).

Art view

Yes, the business of art is booming. There is a lot of awareness. Artists are more well-known than they used to be. But there is still a lot to do. Art is still perceived to be a timepass subject. Our education system doesn't really respect art and so kids are not encouraged in creative thinking. Part of the problem is also that we don't have any active museums.

Institutions like Jnanapravaha, Mohile Parikh, Pomegranate are doing a lot to promote art education, but they also need more support. This can only be fixed with education as well as policy.

Who: Geetu Hinduja
What: Talks about the world of art
Where: At her Fine Art Company