No longer PICTURE PERFECT

No longer PICTURE PERFECT
After a golden era, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat has been run to the ground by some artful individuals
Darinia Khongwir & Shruthi Balakrishna | TNN

Bangalore: What was once the pinnacle of art in Karnataka is now down in the dumps. The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat (KCP), started in 1960, was set up during the Devaraj Urs regime. The government gave two acres of land at Kumara Krupa Road, where it is currently located.
Later, a Chitrakala Parishat Trust was formed with foreign minister S M Krishna as president and art patron H K Kejriwal as vice-president. Trust members included former Karnataka CM Ramakrishna Hegde and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
After its establishment, art exhibitions were held at both state and national level institutions. In 1966, KCP grew in stature and prominence as an art centre. Artists from all over the world were attracted to it. KCP also surveyed the state’s art treasures — the historic Mysore traditional painting and antiquated leather puppets. The survey, a first of its kind, yielded far-reaching results. The collections formed invaluable source material for study and research.
H K Kejriwal, art collector, donated his rare collection of art and artifacts and raised money for the institute. Some of the works were by Amrita Shergil, the Bengal Renaissance, Kalighat paintings, Pat paintings and others. Renowned graphic artist Krishna Reddy also gifted his valuable graphics prints to KCP. Popular paintings of S S Kukke are other additions to this list
Trouble starts
Sadly, a few years ago, factional disputes started cropping up within the institute and reached such proportions that members began publicly shaming each other. On June 8, KCP chairman T Prabhakar called a press conference as a damage control measure after executive committee vice-president U S Venkataraman and member P Rajashekhar resigned.
Two other members — Babu Eshwar Prasad and S Gopinath — were issued show cause notices for voicing their opinion against the management. They were suspended from attending executive board meetings and are facing expulsion, pending an inquiry. But this, Venkataraman said, is unconstitutional as there is no provision to suspend members under KCP’s laws.
KCP was dogged with the issue of appointment of principals. Within 18 months, it saw four principals take office! The appointment of K S Appajaiah came as a rude shock in 2007, as he was neither eligible nor qualified for the post.
Appajaiah was also charged with tampering of internal assessment marks during his tenure. The charges were proved and he was removed. However, when the executive committee re-convened in November 2007, he was re-instated. Two months ago, he was shifted to the painting department.
Misappropriation
of funds
Members alleged there was excess spending on Chitra Santhe, an annual painting exhibition. “The Chitra Santhe held on January 25, 2009, cost over Rs 8 lakh. But the infrastructure and facilities available were found wanting. The management has not been able to give a satisfactory explanation for money spent or the poor facilities provided,” said Babu Eshwar Prasad, in reply to an inquiry report. During the previous years, expenditure on Chitra Santhe was Rs 3-5 lakh. Prasad alleged that the grants received from the University Grants Commission (UGC) — Rs Rs 7 lakh in 2008 and Rs 10.5 lakh in 2009 — were spent “without the approval of the EC and no satisfactory explanation has been given on how the funds were utilized”. He also alleged that the management and secretary had been duplicating art works.
No increment for staff
The college staff are also in trouble. For 2008, “10 members of the teaching staff were not given salary increments — this was delayed to April 2009 and no satisfactory explanation provided”, Babu said. Several renovations and alterations were carried out, without the approval or knowledge of the Committee members or KCP Trust, in violation of the norms. However, the chairman clarified that CKP has not misused funds, and all decisions were either approved or ratified by a majority of executive members.
Admission problems?
While rumours are rife that KCP has been losing students following a dilution in quality of learning, principal in-charge R H Kulkarni refutes it. He says the college has been running smoothly in the past two months after he took charge. The number of students dropped only after KCP received autonomy in 2006. In 2007, admission dropped by nearly 40%. “Applications were invited only from students who finished pre-university. After PU, students have many options. A degree in fine arts is farthest from their minds.” He added that the following year, admissions picked up and KCP is looking at 100% admissions this year.
Why they quit
U S Venkataraman, vice-president
After serving as executive council member for 15 years, his resignation shocked all. He said after assuming office, the new executive committee did nothing. “There was no creative or innovative work discussed except routine work like renting out galleries and running the college. Even here, there were lapses. Several suggestions on art camps/workshops, conferences, etc, were ignored. Improvement of finances, increasing membership of artists, starting Parishat branches in districts were not considered,” he said.
QUOTES
I am concerned about the institute. After helping make KCP what it is today — moving it from Malleswaram to its present location, garnering art works and get media attention for art, to see the institute’s name being tarnished is a matter of concern. I don’t know who is right or wrong, but they are playing with the lives of students. It will also hamper future admissions. Yusuf Arakkal | ALUMNUS
KCP’s problems cropped up from a lot of in-fighting among powerhungry individuals. There’s a fight because president S M Krishna has not called for a meeting for long. There is no proper authority to oversee the Parishat’s workings and the government is washing its hands of it. KCP has one of the finest galleries in the country, but it is not maintained. The people at the helm know nothing about art. They just want to mint money. H K Kejriwal | PATRON