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Helping to market art
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Tourism is helping local folks in many ways. Here’s a take on Annemarie’s endeavour
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Art Mart Nazar and Annemarie van de Pasch outside her home at Fort Kochi.
There is a reason behind everything that happens believes Dutch tourist Annemarie van de Pasch. A reason to love India, a reason to come to Kochi, a reason to make it her home and now a reason to market the art works of local artist Nazar.
“For the last four years that I have been coming to India I have been buying Nazar’s works and gifting them to friends back home. I felt that if I market his works professionally he will reap better profits,” says Annemarie.
Move to help
And so she moved her home from Amravati to Fort Kochi, a tourist hub, to help Nazar be closer to the market. She bought him canvas, paints, easel and gave him new ideas that will help him sell his works. She now displays his canvases at the doorstep of her home in Peter Celli Street, to catch the eye of passers-by and tourists. And though this new venture has not yet found its mark the number of travellers who stop by and enquire is reason enough to appreciate Annemarie’s endeavour.
Says Nazar who is a familiar face in Fort Kochi and whose works are essentially ‘Kerala’ in theme and in the warm colours, “I am happy at the turn of things and am enjoying this.”
From a painter of homes and walls, whitewashing them, to a hoarding painter and doing lettering of vehicle number plates, Nazar moved on to painting Kathakali faces and Theyyam masks at the Kathakali Centre in Fort Kochi. “It was here that I felt that my art works can be a good Kerala souvenir for the tourists,” he says.
Later he moved out and began painting from the sidewalks under the canopy of the huge rain trees that dot the area. A picture perfect setting and touristy enough. It was here that Annemarie bought her first works by Nazar. “The Kathakali faces, the Indian Gods and Goddesses were what I liked. Nazar has very original ideas about his subjects and I was taken up by them,” she says. Her own connection with India was a fluke, one that just took off at a party in Swanage, Dorset where she has a home by the seaside. “I had no idea about India. I was at a loose end after quitting my work at a restaurant as my eyesight began to weaken. At the party a friend was on the lookout for companions to come along to India. I volunteered and so did two others.
Then we four women came to India, four years back. After that I fell in love with the country and with Kerala. I learnt about Hinduism, Ayurveda, Kathakali and feel so close to the people here. I wish I can get a long term visa to settle down here.”
Indianess
Annemarie is so besotted with ‘Indianess’ that she often wears a sari, bindi and even sports golden long hair which she bought in England, “I bought myself a ponytail to make me look more Indian.”
But it is a new world for Annemarie and a newer venture to be in. “Well. I have never done anything like this before being in hotels, pubs and restaurants. But I thought that this is the only way I can help Nazar.
I can communicate with the tourists and even tell Nazar where he could innovate according to market demands, like the tourists cannot carry big canvases and prefer smaller ones.
Also the pricing is what I help him with. All the works as of now cost between Rs.3, 000 to Rs. 8,000.”
Meanwhile Nazar has been brushing up his English and says that he can understand Annemarie perfectly but cannot hold a conversation with her. Nazar’s family is thrilled with his novel way of marketing his works, for art galleries are not within reach of non-studio artists, like Nazar. This fillip by Annemarie has motivated Nazar to work towards an exposition to be held soon.
PRIYADERSHINI S.
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