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After 16 years, Rajeev Lochan vacates his chamber at the NGMA. While these years saw several major exhibitions, the term was not free of contention

Rajeev Lochan at the National Gallery of Modern Art Express Photo

On Thursday, when Rajeev Lochan was putting up the Nandalal Bose Haripura posters on the walls of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), it marked the last exhibition he organised at the institution as its director. Considered among Bose’s finest works, these will welcome a new head at the institution, who will replace Lochan. “Everyone retires, and I too am retiring gracefully. I do not know who will replace me,” says Lochan, 60, scanning through his belongings in the office that he has occupied for 16 years. Rather eventful, apart from change in the political powers, the period also saw boom in India art and rise of a generation of artists who have attained global recognition. “NGMA had been showing the work of senior artists but it was wonderful when he (Lochan) organised a show of Anish Kapoor, also the survey shows of contemporary artists. That momentum should now remain,” says Atul Dodiya. The Mumbai-based artist’s 2013 show at the NGMA was among the first of a contemporary artist by the institution that had for long battled criticism for not showcasing contemporary art from India, which was travelling world over but not getting recognition in national institutions back home.

Son of a zamindar, Lochan’s father too had followed artistic pursuits but not to much success. He had bigger dreams for his son, who spent his early years in Dehradun, and pursued his art education at MS University, Baroda, where he studied under the likes of Jyoti Bhatt and Gulammohammed Sheikh. “He studied painting and did a lot of realistic work that was closely related to photography,” says Sheikh.

In the years to come he was to build a reputation in Delhi, including stints as a teacher at Jamia Milia Islamia and College of Art, Delhi. His canvases often reflected the state of the surroundings and the ruins, before his oeuvre turned to photo realism and photography. He joined as the director of the NGMA in 2001, a year after he received the National Lalit Kala Akademi Award in painting. There was opposition from his contenders even before he joined office, but Lochan was going to hold the post for long. “More could have been done but Rajeev did manage to bring significant changes. I know of instances when the ministry sat on some of his proposals. NGMA is an adjunct of the ministry and not an autonomous body,” says poet and critic Ashok Vajpeyi, who was the director of the Lalit Kala Akademi from 2008-2011. He attributes Lochan’s “inability” to acquire significant works of art to the “lack of available budget”.

While Lochan refused to discuss his term, in a newsletter on the NGMA website, he says, “Each work is a surprise and has its own personal and intuitive meaning, which is why I advocate collaborations; to take the art of my country to a more global audience”. While the much-delayed wings at the NGMA opened during his tenure, there were also exhibitions of international masters such as Pablo Picasso and Nicholas Roerich. He also managed a scoop with a solo of Anish Kapoor. The doors were also opened for photographs and architects with retrospectives of Homai Vyarawalla, BV Doshi and Raj Rewal.

With the change in reigns at most national cultural institutions — including the National Museum and the Indira Gandhi National Center For the Arts — the artist fraternity awaits an announcement on the new director of the NGMA. Dodiya has a few suggestions though: “It should be someone well versed with the role of museum in society, someone with a vision and capable of drawing a programme that tempts people.” Lochan, meanwhile, has also signed his last letter as the director of the NGMA, describing his tenure as “exciting years of suspense, problems and resolution”.

First uploaded on: 01-07-2016 at 00:09 IST

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