Cymroza Art Gallery turns 50: 'I use the word passion and not lightly'

The rain has refused to abate on the day we meet art historian collector and nature conservationist Pheroza J Godrej Her office at Godrej Bhavan in Fort isnoiseless devoid of staff barring one The only company we otherwise have are the crows perched on the ledge taking shelter from the relentless showers outsideldquoIt looks like they are having a meetingrdquo she quipsItrsquos been a gruelling one year for the art world she admits Barely any physical exhibitions and shows due to the pandemic ldquoI think I shrunk a little bit too during this timerdquo she jokes as she sits down for the photo shootThe last few months of the lockdown however have kept her busy Godrej is just a few weeks shy of celebrating the golden jubilee of Cymroza Art Gallery which she established in October 1971 as a 23yearold ldquoNow there I am giving away my agerdquo she laughsFrom left Pheroza Godrej Jehangir Sabavala at the exhibition by Balbir Singh Katt and Latika Katt at Cymroza Art Gallery 1983Fifty years ago when Godrej launched Cymroza in Breach Candy she remembers there being fewer platforms for up and coming artists ldquoWe had Jehangir Art Gallery which was the most iconic gallery that most artists went to Then there was the Artists Centre Chetana and two other prominent commercial galleriesmdashGallery Chemould which was an extension of a framing shop and Pundole which was a watch shop The most expensive and exclusive was the Taj Art Gallery This wellappointed gallery was in the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel Heritage Wingrdquo she recalls as she settles on the chair in her cabinFor many young artists the struggle was real The Sir JJ School of Art did an annual show but it was institutional There were many who were either pursuing academic interests or had fulltime jobs and were doing their diplomas from parallel organisations affiliated to the art school which had classes mostly in the evening Where would they go ldquoIt was always the question of chicken and egg Everywhere you went they the gallerists would say lsquoyou must have your first show and then come to usrsquo But who was going to give us fledgling artists that breakrdquo asks Godrej adding ldquoI felt that there should be a space for people like me younger artists who had just graduated from the art schoolrdquoThough she did get to showcase her work at Chetana she was determined to open her own gallery and soon ldquoI was blessed that I had enlightened parents who gave me that opportunity They had this space in Breach Candy Bhulabhai Desai Road We cleaned it up painted it and put in airconditioners We had the best lighting in town at that time because it was a new gallery and we could do what was relevant for 1971rdquoPheroza P Shroff with ViceAdmiral Soman the first Executive Director of NID at the inauguration of the Cymroza Art Gallery October 1971 Pics courtesyCymroza Series PJG Collection Godrej ArchivesFor a woman in her 20s who was just about starting out she admits that ldquoit was very difficult to be taken seriouslyrdquo ldquoBut I use this word lsquopassionrsquo and I donrsquot use it lightly I really had studied my subject I knew where the pitfalls were I was determined to succeed And I never ever thought that if it doesnrsquot work I would shut it down In fact that thought had never even occurred to me I think it was the effervescence and idealism of youthrdquo adds Godrej neacutee ShroffAs the gallery prepared to open Godrej recalls personally visiting every senior artist in town ldquoI reverently told them senior artists I am having this show this is my background this is what I am going to do and Irsquod be happy if you can loan one painting I will collect it and return it They asked lsquoArenrsquot you going to sellrsquo I said lsquoGosh if I could sell I would be the happiest person and I would make you a very happy person as wellrsquo Everybody contributed to this proposal spontaneouslyrdquo she saysCymroza Art Gallery opened on October 20 1971 Among those who showcased their artworks were Narayan Shridhar Bendre Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar Pilloo Pochkhanawala Adi Davierwala and Jehangir Sabavala ldquoWe were actually supposed to open on August 15 1971 but Pilloo veteran sculptor artist said you canrsquot have a contemporary youthful gallery with a letterhead that looks like itrsquos straight out of Geoffrey Chaucerrsquos English She was insistent that we design a logo that represented the modern image So we had to design a logo It was worth the delay because we havenrsquot changed it in the last 50 yearsrdquoSince then the gallery has hosted a multitude of events that havenrsquot been restricted to art exhibits alone ldquoWe have had Zakir Hussain play here and even Malavika Khanna Sangghvi recite her original poetry and have had so many craft showsrdquo shares Godrej ldquoPeople grew up with us Manjit Bawa who never had a show in Bombay first showcased here at the age of 40 Rekha Rodwittiya identified by Ebrahim Alkazi in Delhi and supported greatly by him commenced her first show with us so did Arpita Singh Arpana Caur Gogi Saroj Pal among othersrdquoTo mark the Cymroza50 anniversary a set of exhibitions will be hosted across three venues Cymroza Pundolersquos and Chatterjee amp Lal all of which will open simultaneously on September 1 Thematically the contents of each exhibition have been designed to complement each other The Cymroza Chronicles will place rare works and archival ephemera on display at Cymroza providing an insight into the galleryrsquos formative years and exhibition history as well as Godrejrsquos own journey in art At Pundolersquos Ranjit Hoskote will curate a major survey exhibition Mapping the Lost Spectrum incorporating highlights from the collection of Jamshyd and Pheroza Godrej At Chatterjee amp Lal Nancy Adajania will curate The Unpaved Crusty Earthy Road the first retrospective of the important fibre artist Nelly Sethna an artist who was championed by GodrejldquoRanjit Nancy and I have been talking about this for a long time now The actual work started around five years ago I began with restoring all the artworks directly under my supervision followed by the documentation processrdquo says Godrej who is also chairperson of the Godrej Archives Council ldquoMine was quite an unwieldy collection When I started collecting I didnrsquot think that I was only going to collect the work of a particular artist period or school of painting To put it all together a lot of thought had to go into it I took the help of gallerist Mortimer ChatterjeerdquoSince 2000 her association with other museums and art committeesmdashshe was chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the National Gallery of Modern Art and Museum Society of Bombay and was involved in the restoration work at Bhau Daji Lad Museummdashhas made her take a backseat with work at the gallery ldquoThis took all my time But I have continued to handhold my teamrdquo she says