The CONA Foundation is a space founded by artists Shreyas Karle and Hemali Bhuta in the Borivali East district at the northwest edge of Mumbai. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was frequented by a diverse collection of artists from India and elsewhere, attracting especially large numbers to its workshops. The “Art In-betweeners” program running currently primarily targets artists who have recently graduated from art school or similar, and due to the spread of coronavirus is being offered online, mainly via Zoom. Art In-betweeners is serving as a substitute for an Artist-in-Residence (AiR) program, and it is still unclear whether participating artists will be able to congregate in person. The current online project is more akin to a mentoring program. Though I have not experienced the actual on-site CONA AiR program, I’d like to share from an Art In-betweener participant’s viewpoint what I actually felt following my couple of months’ experience in that program, and my thoughts on the state of AiR provision under pandemic conditions.

CONA co-founder Karle visited my school (then Kyoto University of Arts and Design) in July 2018 as a Global Seminar guest lecturer, and five students including myself took his classes for about two weeks. Having developed an interest in the work of CONA through this, in June 2019 I made a private visit to Mumbai, where I spent a fortnight attending workshops, meeting different artists, and discussing everything from art to film, poetry and music. Meals consisted of a selection of the dal and vegetable curries that are a specialty in the west of India, served with thin chapatis, and we spent our break times socializing over a glass of chai, reopening our discussions on art. Priority was given to spending 24 hours a day with others, dining together and taking the opportunity for constant, fluid communication.

The same idea underpinned the Art In-betweeners project launched in September 2020. Thirty selected artists (twenty-seven from India, one from Canada, one from Dubai, one from Japan) kicked off with a joint meeting before splitting off and continuing discussions in three groups. Individual interviews were also held with Karle and Bhuta, joined by critic and writer Aveek Sen, and Amarnath Praful, a visual artist who deals mainly in photography. The project is varied in content: as well as discussion on topics such as the definition of a gallery, problems with today’s art market, and differences between art and craft, there are experimental initiatives like “taking part in an interview as another, imaginary person” and brainstorming games. At times the interaction can be intense, with two consecutive days of nine-hour sessions, but it is fair to say that as a program that stresses “dialogue” above all else, it is being run with all the concentration of a residency experience.

The attraction of the AiR lies in large part in the chance for a unique experience only available in a particular place, and interaction with other artists, but the pandemic has forced many artists to cancel or shorten their stays. Amid this, CONA continues to facilitate discussion and debate among artists with its usual enormous enthusiasm, albeit online. With COVID-19 putting a stop to so many activities, surely now more than ever is the time to speak with others, and contemplate the state of art today. I hope to keep gaining whatever experience I can under these conditions, while looking forward to the day when I can meet fellow participants in person.

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Kajihara Mizuki
Artist. Graduate of the Contemporary Art Course, Kyoto University of Art and Design (now Kyoto University of the Arts). Has completed the Global Seminar at KUAD’s Graduate School.