We don’t look after art in our society: Shabana

Veteran actress Shabana Azmi, who is socially aware about many things and an admirer of art, has said that we don’t look after art in our society.

Shabana Azmi was interacting with the media at the event of Odisha Triennial of International Art (OTIA) on Saturday in Mumbai.

Talking about the need to nurture art, Azmi said, “I think any form of art plays an important role in our society to shape a human being, to form his point of view and to make him a complete human being but we don’t look after that aspect of art. We should give encouragement and patronage to arts. From school days, we should introduce different kind of art forms to children because when you get an exposure then only your imagination becomes more vibrant.”

Asked whether artists should also have their unions to address their issues in a united manner, she said, “I think that matter should be decided by artists themselves and I can’t participate in that. In our film industry, we have cine artists’ union, producers’ union and directors’ union, so they have to decide themselves. "Odisha will play host to what is billed as India’s first private sector triennial in December-January that will see the convergence of artists from the national and international scene during the 40-day mega event. There will also be a series of seminars involving experts and scholars from the fields of films, theatre, art, music, performance and new media art.