An ICC for the art world

Since October this year Instagram handle herdsceneand has been acting as an Internal Complaints Committee ICC for the art world Anonymous posts have revealed incident after incident that showed the true colours of artists such as Jatin Das Riyas Komu and most recently Subodh GuptaBecause of the platform Gaurav Bhatia of Sothebys first lost face then lost his job Komu and Gupta were made to climb down from their pedestals and their positions at KochiMuziris Biennale and Serendipity Arts Festival respectively and a total of 11 women found the strength in numbers to speak up against Das The Insta handle had to take on this role because no one before them was doing itRosalyn DmelloA lot of galleries are very small private spaces with very few employees says Rosalyn Dmello art writer and midday columnist They dont have HR or any medium of redressal If I have a problem with another employee theres no one I can complain to You dont want to lose your job youre not earning very much anyways a lot of women in the art field are also doing it without the consent of their families there are a lot of odds stacked against them So it would help to have some system in place At the moment theres noneRashmi Dhanwani founder of arts organisation The Art X Company specifies We dont have a single body or association of arts professionals in this space There arent any laws governing labour in the Indian arts sector What you have is what applies to other similarsized businesses The government mandates an ICC for any organisation with over 10 employees but as Dhanwani says Galleries comprise small teams They are not required by law to have an ICC How they deal with complaints of sexual harassment is very much left to either the moral stance taken by the society such as the MeToo movement or their own discretion such as confronting the client taking the team member off the project or something as simple as Dont meet this person alone In my experience most galleries have handled cases in the above fashion For instance Mumbaibased photographer Shahid Datawalas show at Tarq was cancelled after accusations of harassment surfaced against him onlineYoung and inexperiencedFoot soldiers in the art world like in films are easy prey Art writer Phalguni Desai says Both are comparatively small industries that create a lot of money and theyre dependent on a handful of stars Both are also informal workspaces The art world is based on relationships with people sometimes being hired over dinners Arundhati Ghosh executive director at India Foundation for the Arts says The problem with the arts sector is its so unorganised with so many freelancers They simply dont have a place to go to Even discussions about a platform for sexual harassment claims are undertaken informally Ghosh adds Artists in Delhi initiated by dancer Mandeep Raikhy and Bengaluru initiated by Sarita Vellani of Toto Funds the Arts have come together and held meetings to discuss exactly thisOn December 13 some 60odd members came together in Kochi in a similar fashion Dmello one of the attendees says We were trying to make sense of how Riyass presence was being asserted at the biennale even in his official absence At the flaghoisting ceremony his name had been invoked at another book launch his name had been invoked in a very thankful and celebratory way which felt insensitive Along with the allegations that came out about Gupta many of us were walking around in a daze We just wanted to be together and wanted a sense of communityThe solution according to all is the same a legit platform where everyone is heard Curator Natasha Ginwala outlines Setting up of an ICC and code of conduct for employees is essential A huge aspect is also building trust with those who have influence and power in the field taking responsibility to clean up the predatory behaviour that takes place casually We need to move beyond the panic mode that is created by the 24hour media cycle and work on longterm transitions in the cultural fieldIf wishes came trueEven if such a committee were to exist what would justice look like Ghosh says Justice would be what the complainant is okay with Not every complainant wants to go to court The ones who do should be encouraged and supported The shape justice will take will emerge out of these conversations In Bengaluru some women took up an issue with a yoga instructor and they made a graphic novel out of it The Illustrated Womens Guide to Yoga Abuse We all have to figure out different ways of fighting this battleCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates