Full Circle: Shaleen Wadhwana on Art History in a Digital World
Images courtesy: Akshita Wadhwana / Shaleen Wadhwana and Matterport
‘Artists are creating history the second time around.’ Curator and educator Shaleen Wadhwana discusses the intersection of art and history, curation in post-pandemic India, the NFT boom, and much more.
Varud Gupta’s Full Circle is a regular column that dives into the arts and crafts of India through interviews with specialists around the country, discussing everything from creations to inspirations.
An independent writer, curator, and teacher of art, heritage, tech and culture, Shaleen Wadhwana fearlessly juggles a number of hats. From art curation to cultural programming, she has continued to power forward even as the COVID-19 pandemic unsettled much of the world.
Shaleen also happens to be one of my favourite people in the world, whom I first met while designing a historical walking tour around my graphic novel, Chhotu. Now, I’m excited to share small extracts of her brain in this month’s Full Circle, as we explore the changing landscape of art history in an industry headed towards the digital world.
The Chakkar: Let’s begin with exploring your background. What was it that first led you to this field?
Wadhwana: I was always interested in this field, always had a love for history especially since taking classes with my teacher Chitra Srinivas in the 11th grade. She was the kind of teacher that painted a history for you through our lesson, and it was then on that I knew that my work would either always be as a teacher helping others along this path, or to keep learning about history myself.
My path since then has been quite linear. I studied history and art peppered, with lessons in multicultural interests such as cultural heritage law. At the time it seemed like a strange detour, but even those courses have helped give a return on my education through speaking at conferences about cultural repatriation of looted artefacts!
After college I immediately began working at institutions. I spent some time with the Heritage Transport Museum and even Chemould Prescott, one of the oldest galleries in South Asia. More recently, I have been working as an independent educator and moving into tech.
The Chakkar: Let’s explore that a little more. Why choose to focus on an intersection of Art and History?
“How do you engage with audiences virtually? What has happened is a paradigm shift in how we are consuming our culture. From physical spaces, we are now curating on screens and for screens.”
Wadhwana: It was during some of my internships at INTACH and the India Art Fair that I got closer to how heritage can be reflected in art. History has a reputation in India of being a bit boring. I obviously disagree with that, but by studying art it became a welcoming tool of delving into the past. Art is a slice of history itself. Whether a painting, or sculpture, or book… it all reflects and introduces a certain point in time.
The Chakkar: How has your field and industry changed by the events of the past almost two years now with COVID-19?
Wadhwana: Honestly, it started with a period of unemployment. Art and culture are known as a ‘Second Response’ during any crisis or major change. The First Response obviously always are matters such as food and health, but something like art is second to the urgencies of our time. In that case, it is an essential non-essential and many cultural institutions had to indefinitely go on pause or shut down.
My work had since then developed into that rippling effect: how do you engage with audiences virtually? How do you remain relevant? What has happened is a paradigm shift in how we are consuming our culture. From physical spaces, we are now curating on screens and for screens.
The Chakkar: Can you give me an example of how that change has manifested itself?
Wadhwana: Very practically, take a look at Instagram. Most posts on Instagram are shared in the ratio of 1:1. So as creators and artists putting content online, they are specifically looking for work that fits into that ratio. Moreover, one of the biggest changes has been through attention spans. The internet has already decreased our attention span, but now with more interactions moving online during the pandemic, we’ve seen that attention decrease further.
As someone who used to take people on walks, we have noticed that in physical walks you can control that attention. But how to do this digitally? It just might not be the best way to experience art.
The Chakkar: What are some techniques that you have seen to combat these changes?
Wadhwana: On one hand, when I do virtual lectures or talks, I have to increase the amount of visual data. I also now have to speak more efficiently in a short time; for a traditionally verbose person, I now have to be more concise.
I also try to do my best to include engagement, that can be using aids such as annotation tools on Zoom or using hand raising options on Microsoft Teams.
Many institutions have done a good job of making this shift. For example, The Museum of Art and Photography, Bengaluru, was due for a physical opening. They just slated it for later and went ahead with a digital one. It’s a radical idea for India, but not radical overall.
The Chakkar: What are your day-to-day activities like, and how has that schedule changed or evolved?
Wadhwana: The key has been adaptability. When I was working as the Director of Sales and Strategy at Chemould, most of my day was in the office space or in our exhibitions. I would walk clients through our collections and guide them towards a purchase of art. As an independent educator, I would spend hours preparing for tours, whether studying artefacts in museums, or travelling to archeological sites for primary research.
Then, there was a year of confused working. Adaptation is symbiotic. If you are convinced this is how you need to adapt, organisations will rally around you, or vice versa. The first was in November 2020 putting together my second independently-curated exhibition. This was in Delhi that was opening after a nine-month lockdown but we knew people wouldn’t visit physically. I had been working on it for two years. As a cultural institution there is a responsibly to not force people to visit. But be available in case someone does come.
I like to think that I am happily confused, but extremely satisfied.
The Chakkar: How did you tackle this change?
Wadhwana: First, by learning to speak through a mask. It is a skill that I have had to excel at—although one really needs their whole face to express emotions.
NFT art has democratised the process. Younger and emerging artists can showcase their work, and it helps in a space where there has traditionally been a demand and supply issue: more artists and art work, lesser spaces to showcase and nurture them.
Meanwhile, we have to also think a lot more about the art that is chosen. If an exhibition is moving online, we usually 3D map the physical piece (that is, create a digital scan of the entire exhibition space which may be displaying types of artworks—painting or vase or tapestry).
This has been interesting but we are now working with different aspects. On one hand, being digital we gain the ability to zoom in to the details of the pieces while losing that tactility of seeing it live. Another interesting change is that, although there has been the unfortunate loss of the physical experience of coming into the space, we have now been able to make this same art accessible virtually to more people around the world.
The Chakkar: I want to explore a bit more of your background in art evaluation. How does one undertake such a task?
Wadhwana: I was selling art from 2015 to 2018 and in the three years of doing that you learn through market statistics, reports, art fair performances, stature of the artist, and the composition on the material. But now I am working on a project called Maharh where I am valuing art for an NFT platform. I find myself evaluating what would be the values of artworks in this space—but it is not that there are any benchmarks to go by when compared to centuries of how physical art has sold.
The Chakkar: What do you think is driving this NFT boom? Is it hype?
Wadhwana: I do think that there is an aspect of market hype—but the art that is coming out through the NFT world is also relevant for our times. Take, for example, the Beeple sale in March 2021 via Christie’s auction house. That art work was not only capturing contemporary history over 5000 days, but provided a strong narrative and story. If art can strike that chord with an audience, there’s nothing better to make it work in any form.
The Chakkar: NFTs are a pretty new field. How would you explain this concept to those unfamiliar with it?
Wadhwana: So, let’s set aside the acronym of non-fungible token. Think of it as an alternative reality for how you understand the world of transactions currently. This is a space where everything is digital: the display, sale, ownership and even currency paid (through crypto such as Ether). The fact is that this will only continue to be an alternate reality until one is able to understand and accept it—and NFTs might not just be for art.
Stepping away from basic logistics on government accepting this space (for example, in India it isn’t legal, yet, but that hasn’t stopped artists), think of the 90s where we were always dependent on physical money. Then we evolved to credit cards. And now digital apps such as Paytm. But in India, we still have people that operate offline with physical currency. Maybe there is resistance due to lack of trust and fear. But that was also during the transition to digital in the past. Nonetheless, South Asia as a market of art buyers is still very traditional. NFT might be slow to settle because we are already shy in this area.
But on the flip side, especially since the physical Indian art market can be tough for up a coming artist, NFT art has democratised the process. Younger and emerging artists can showcase their work, and it helps in a space where there has traditionally been a demand and supply issue: more artists and art work, lesser spaces to showcase and nurture them.
Wadhwana with students of The Doon School at the 2019 India Art Fair. Photo courtesy: Shaleen Wadhwana and The Doon School
The Chakkar: Give me a glimpse of how you would traditionally sell art to a collector or enthusiast.
Wadhwana: My technique was to find an emotional hook between the art work and person I am talking to. Be pleasantly aggressive. Find that balance. Art is a ‘Veblen good’, a high-quality item that is exclusive and usually appreciates. The idea is to hold onto such investments and not push it back into the market. I would usually have one chance, one conversation to make that work, to understand what the buyer wanted: is it the type of art, is it the artist, or is it to support a social cause?
The Chakkar: What do you recommend for someone that wants to enter this space today?
Wadhwana: In the flux we are in, learn by doing. I am still trying and given the changing landscape there is very little in terms of degrees. It is all new to everyone. So, talk to people in this space. Learn the digital and technical skills. Follow tech news. You would be surprised the connections you make as an art professional with tech.
The Chakkar: What are your thoughts on the future of the industry?
Wadhwana: I think that, as long as I keep adapting, I will be ahead of the curve of change. That will keep me relevant; but I think South Asian adaption has always a decade behind wherever the global ‘western’ status quo is, mainly from the lack of funding and lack of infrastructural support in arts education. Before the pandemic we were already behind, but this has forced us to close that gap. We tumbled ahead towards digital adaptation a bit faster due to this.
As a young person, I used to think that gap between foreign happenings and domestic was useful. I could use best practices from ‘abroad’ and mould them for India. But now, I rather hope that we speed up. I am more restless, more cynical, and not every foreign practice works for India. I want to create the practices that work here, here itself.
The Chakkar: What do you feel is the role of art in society?
Wadhwana: I think that the ‘second response’ is the best one. Artists are creating history the second time around. Art is an entry into your history. And art is the way you live once you’ve died.
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Varud Gupta is the award-winning author of the graphic novel Chhotu: A Tale of Partition and Love (Comic Con India “Best Writer”) and the travelogue Bhagwaan Ke Pakwaan: Food of the Gods (Gourmand for “Peace”). His words also frequently appear in National Geographic Traveller and Mint Lounge. He received his bachelors in Finance from New York University. You can find him on Twitter: @Varud Gupta and Instagram: @varudgupta.
