IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT PAST, SOUTH INDIAN ARTISTS FELT IT WAS NECESSARY TO show their work at what they felt were the two active centres for the promotion of art in the country - Mumbai and Delhi. Chennai was dismissed as a dead space despite the fact that some of the more interesting experiments in contemporary art and ideas were taking place amongst some of the artists there. The Cholamandal Artists' Village, which was started in the late '60s, was an idealistic venture that united the arts and crafts movements, anchoring them in the traditional ethos of the South. The sense of isolation experienced by Chennai artists, however, was very real. Even the two initiatives that were started in Chennai, the Apparao Galleries and the Sakshi Gallery started by Sharan Apparao and Geetha Mehra respectively, were able to gain the prominence that they have today, only after they migrated out of Chennai.

The Apparao Galleries.

Before these two gallery-initiatives took off, only Sarala's Art Centre, run by Moti and Soli Daruwala from a charming old house set in the midst of a sprawling old garden, was run on the lines of a professional art gallery. The Daruwalas managed to survive solely on account of the framing and mounting expertise that they had brought with them when they moved from Mumbai. The main support for artists came from the small contingent of foreigners stationed in the city, either as members of the consulates or those working at institutions such as the British Council, the Alliance Francaise and the Max Mueller Bhavan. Their contribution to the creation of a salubrious environment for local artists and artists from their own countries through informal workshops, camps and sponsored shows cannot be underestimated.

Today, there are not only several new entrants on the art scene determined to ride the current boom in contemporary Indian art but the client base for art has also undergone a huge change. Not only are new gallery owners quite likely to be women with an interest in art (because they themselves may have had aspirations to paint or sketch) but many of them are also likely to have a social network that allows them to reach out to other women who have the time and the buying power to support upcoming artists. These gallery owners have entered the market with an aggressive interest in promoting the works of artists who command some kind of market value. Their clients are those in the IT, hospitality, medical and banking sectors - most of them are young professionals who sport what might be called an international lifestyle (the new generation of NRIs who regularly return home to touch base with their roots form a strong constituency). These women are fully convinced about the value of art as investment and they understand the role that art can play in complementing a high-end lifestyle. Moreover, it's heartening to see that the older gallery owners have begun to reap the benefits of their belief in talented artists whom they have quietly supported over the years.