BRIEF NOTES ON GROWTH OF FORMAL INSTITUTIONS OF ART

EDUCATION IN PUNJAB.
by Jatinderpal Kaur.

Education in fine arts has been an age long tradition in our country.
Ancient texts give evidence of how art permeated life in ancient India.
Every young man and woman of taste had a knowledge of art, dance
and music as essential factors of literary aesthetic education1. The
distinguished masters or Chitravidyopadhyayas were well versed in
several branches of art and instructed inferior craftsmen in guilds.
In Sultanate or Mughal period artists worked in the ateliers under
royal patronage2. These court workshops were sparsely populated in
which Tabriz masters used to instruct young artists and this system
continued to be so till British appeared on the scene.
The British introduced an altogether new system of art education.
Though early British were scornful of all forms of Indian expression
with only exception to its traditional crafts3. According to Mill, not only
was the Indian art primitive, unattractive, rude in taste and genius but
unnatural, offensive and not infrequently disgusting.
A growing awareness towards the decorative arts of India was
noticed as late as nineteenth century. Consequently, Indian
ornamental design emerged not only as the focal point in theatrical
discussion for Indian crafts all over Europe.
Thus, visualizing the scope to establish a market for Indian crafts in
Europe, British founded industrial schools in India. The origin of the
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idea of providing technical education to the people of India occur in
the following word of Educational Dispatch of 1857 from the secretary
of the state-Our attention should now be directed to a
considerationtoo much neglected, namely how useful and practical
knowledge suited to every station in life may be best conveyed to the
great mass of the people.
Thus, it was urged that industrial and technical schools should be
devised to encourage particular local industry or trade. Art schools
were opened in the capital of principal provinces, viz. Calcutta (1854),
Bombay (1857), Lahore (1875) and Madras (1850).
Though these were known as art schools but the emphasis was more
on craft. Their objective was to improve the application of oriental art
to industry on the one hand and to modify existing designs in light of
British taste so as to make them suitable for export. The course in
painting aimed at producing painters and draughtsemen for Railway
and Survey Departments.
Apart from these institutions based on the parameters of Europe,
there emerged a new or parallel system of Europe, there emerged a
new or parallel system of informal education as a reaction to the
western aesthetic standards. Indian Society of Oriental Art
established in 1907 by Abanindranath Tagore is one such example
which was followed by many more educational societies and
academies.
The Mayo School of Arts was established in Lahore in 1875b and a
number of industrial schools were opened as well where emphasis
was on training the local students in indigenous crafts. The scope of
Mayo School of Art was however much larger for even though the

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emphasis was on the training I crafts like wood carving, metal craft,
ivory inlay work, lacquer and enameling etc.,some attention started to
be given to fine Arts as well. The school had been established
through a subscription in honour of the late Lord Mayo and was
intended as an institution for instruction in development of improved
design of indigenous arts. Thus, it had a strong bias in favour of
training craftsmen and painting and clay-modelling played a
subordinate role. John Lockwood kipling was the founder principal of
the school. He played with his decisive policies a major role in thw
lines of development in the school.
Partition of India resulted in the bifurcation of the Mayo School of Art
in 1947. In 1951 the Government School of Art and Crafts was setup
in Simla, which was the capital of Punjab at that time. Later, it was
shifted to Chandigarh, and renamed Government College of Art. The
crafts courses were abolished.
The sphere of art education has witnessed a considerable change
since colonial to the post-independence time both in practice and
purpose. Crafts sections which were central to industrial schools were
set apart. Fine-Arts and were later discontinued. Social and
technological changes have resulted into new professional and
commercial opportunities in the field of visual arts, therby giving
further boost to new disciplines like Graphics, Applied Art and
Computer. Current phase is of a shift from Art education to Design
education. Most of the development in art education has remained
outside the art history and there is much scope for critical inquiry.

REFERENCES:

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1
Sivramamurti, C, Indian Painting.
2
Welch, Stuart Cary, A Flower from Every Meadow.
3
Mitter, Partha, Much Maligned Monsters:History of European Reactions to Indian Art.

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