A Generous Picture

The 2020 fifth Art for Land exhibition and fundraisers has started with an extraordinary varied programme and offerings. Thirty-one (and counting) events are part of this bounty with a plethora of art pieces for sale. There are eight art exhibitions, including the main exhibition in Unity Pavilion, where the Lt. Gov. of Puducherry, Dr Kiran Bedi, inaugurated the programme on 11 January. There are plentiful contributions by Auroville musicians; ten concerts, live music events and chant evenings. Adding to that are world cafes with documentary films on Auroville, creativity days, a generosity fair with afternoon tea, dance performances, a fundraising dinner with live music, talks by Loretta on ‘The Journey to the Soul’, and even a Bollywood workshop. It is a varied, rich and bountiful offering from hundreds of Aurovilians and well-wishers back to Auroville. 

This abundant giving reflects the Auroville spirit, as Jaya one of the promoters of Art for Land from the Unity Pavilion put it; generosity is one of the key attributes of Auroville and one of twelve aspects of the Mother. In the inauguration, Jaya encouraged us all to give what we are comfortable offering even if it is 10 rupees a month. Mother is quoted as saying she would rather receive a million donations of one rupee each than one gift of one million rupees. 

The subtitle of the inauguration was ‘Land of Auroville: a Collective Commitment’ and this desire to work as a unified whole on one of the most urgent and outstanding tasks of the community reflects the considerable effort put into these events. The long-term work for the lands by Aryadeep, Mandakini and Sigrid inspired Jaya and the Unity Pavilion team to support their endeavours. As one of the old timers here, she wants to “finish this task” (of buying the land for the Master Plan) as she put it and “not leave it behind to our children to complete”. It is this collective effort to meet the task of our times that this campaign demonstrates. We are all invited to work on this task, as well wishers from afar or as Aurovilians. This huge challenge – one estimate puts the need at many millions of US$ – is achievable with the same faith that the pioneers showed in their work. 

One of the aims of the Art for Land campaign states: ‘We are here to build a city but not just any city, a collective enterprise: for a shift in consciousness, a cradle for the new humanity, a next step in evolution, manifesting peace, harmony, beauty and striving for perfection.’ The funding is then not just for land per se, but what the land itself is for, the attempts at human unity and evolutionary leaps which need a physical location to take place on.  

One of the artists, Marie-Claire, says she is “very motivated to give for Art for Land. I always give even when I have no money. I’m happy to give and have done so since the beginning. It’s a grace and my gift to the Mother, there is a joy in giving.”  Adil Writer has contributed many items both of sculpture as well as paintings on canvas and mixed media. He adds that his pieces at the exhibition are a “proper body of my work, nice to see it all in the setting of so much Auroville art. We are a small community of 3000 people producing such diverse and good art”. Nadaka, who is offering several concerts as part of the Art for Land campaign, mentions that the event is inspired by “community spirit above all” and he felt honoured to be called to contribute. He added that whilst normally in Auroville we do projects on our own, as soon as it becomes our community offering it starts working like magic. The visiting Australian soprano, Heather Lee, offered a programme of chants by St Hildegard of Bingen and from Savitri,  added her support for buying the land as “we need to ground with nature in a world where land is being lost”.

At the inauguration, Deepti mentioned a quote from Mother that ‘what is needed is a handful of earth’ and proceeded to expand on Auroville’s purpose as a place of consecration for the future. Whilst more than a handful is needed, behind the efforts to buy the land is a consecration to further the Dream and Charter of Auroville. It is a big challenge but if we can collectively focus on generosity, possibility and consecration, then we shall have taken a big step on the journey.