Art, we have been taught to believe, reflects life. If the art that is on display at Ravindra Bhawan reflects what it is supposed to reflect, then life in India must be one of almost unrelieved blandness spiced with pretentious posturing and tortuous intellectual gropings.

The exhibition is also the annual occasion for the bestowal of the National Akademy Awards. The works selected for the awards reinforce a popular feeling in the artistic community that this system of awards could be very well done away with, as it adds nothing to the meaning and focus of the show and only ends up reflecting the various prejudices of the jury, not to mention the implicit nepotism and distribution of `favours'.

The jury has selected 240 art works for display out of 8,133 transparencies and photographs submitted by 2,054 artists. This raises a small question in my mind. If works of art could indeed be selected on the basis of photos alone, what is the use then of displaying the originals? You could just as well display blown up photographs of the selected works and be done with it.

One of the saving graces of the show is the presence of 12 artists invited specially to the show by the jury. The nominated artists include Shyamal Dutta Roy, S G Vasudev, Veena Bhargava, Arpana Caur and Jyoti Swaroop. The younger artists will do well to emulate some of the standards that the veterans have set.

Having said that, there are some works that makes you feel that perhaps all is not lost. Dibyendu Bhadra's award-winning Journey, for instance, is a masterly piece of work that uses exquisite control of artistic technique to capture a flitting but reflective mood. V Nagdas' Post Departure, another award winner, is also a good example of how form and balance can be used to produce a feeling of bereavement and loss. Sumedh Rajendran's House of Ancestors is another excellent piece of work.

-- Soumya Sarkar