Like most countries in world, Indian universities also run Fine Arts departments and award the BFA and MFA degrees to students in several subjects like Painting, Sculpture, Applied Arts, Print Making and Photography.
India has a great cultural heritage and the history of visual arts and it’s representation can be traced back to 30,000-year-old paintings (rock art) of Bhimbetka and the sculptures and other figurines in bronze and terracotta from the Harappan Civilisation. We have various traditions of folk and tribal art forms in different regions of country.
But what we know of art education today in India, started with the opening of five art colleges by the British in the colonial era. They established these centres to teach local people the fine art of craft. The curriculum was designed with the focus on training the skill of imitation to produce cheap copies of European masterpieces or to document the native monuments, people and flora and fauna.
After independence as well, many art colleges have adopted the same structure with some enhancement in curriculum. Some newly emerged centres like Vadodara and Mumbai have shifted their focus from only skill-based training to the holistic understanding of the subject and it’s theoretical value. As a result we have seen several debates and discussions coming out and many phases, groups, styles of artists also.
In the 21st century, we have hundreds of internationally recognized artists in India. The art world is blooming and spreading in multiple ways. But at the same time, we can also see thousands of students passing out yearly without knowing anything about the subject.
Most of the universities, especially the private universities are running Fine Arts Departments just to add one more subject to their list. An overwhelming majority of faculties are unqualified and teach without any proper knowledge or education of the subjects. Students are getting degrees and after that ruining not only their career, but also the cultural landscape of the country.
Fine arts is one of the most important subjects of human knowledge that defines, shapes and preserves the culture of any civilisation or nation. But if we are producing thousands and thousands of artists every year who don’t even know the basics of their subject, how is it going to impact society?
A bad doctor will misdiagnose a patient, a bad engineer will make a nonfunctional machine but a bad artist will kill heritage and this need to be understood. How a person who doesn’t have a professional degree like a BFA and/or MFA even think of teaching these courses?