After actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar criticised the Ministry of Culture for reportedly scrapping the advisory committees at the National Gallery of Modern Art’s (NGMA) Mumbai and Bengaluru centres, the ministry has issued a clarification that the committees have not been dissolved.
The ministry said the Mumbai and Bengaluru committees, which ended on November 15, 2018, and the Delhi committee, which ended on January 17, are in the process of being reconstituted.
“The recommendations of the previous advisory committees (which are up to December 2019 for the NGMA, Mumbai) will be honoured and exhibitions of artists will be held as proposed. The new advisory committee will take a decision on future exhibitions,” the ministry’s statement said.
Mr. Palekar had also raised concerns over limited space given to exhibitions that are not part of the gallery’s own collection. The ministry said the NGMA proposes to display its own collections initially over a two-year period. However, the ministry said some artists have expressed apprehension about the availability of less space for temporary exhibitions and retrospectives. “The NGMA is deliberating on suggestions received from artists, and a final decision will be taken shortly in consultation with all stakeholders,” the statement said.
Mr. Palekar had raised these issues in his speech at the inauguration of artist Prabhakar Barwe’s retrospective at the NGMA, Mumbai, on Friday, during which he was interrupted for criticising the ministry.