Neville Tuli
Encyclopedia
Neville Tuli was educated as an economist
& developmental theorist at London School of Economics
& St Catherine's College, Oxford
. He returned to India
in 1993 after 25 years in the West. Sensing the need to understand the artistic and cultural systems at every level, he traveled across the country visiting hundred of cities, towns, villages and monuments, trying to grasp the relationship of various individuals and entities to artistic creativity. While the Indian fine art
s, cinema
and architectural heritage disciplines were explored anew, they found their place amid philosophy
, literature
and development economics
, his previous fields of knowledge.
In 1995, he established HEART (The Tuli Foundation for Holistic Education & Art). A registered charitable society, it aimed to help build a quality-conscious infrastructure for the Indian fine art
s. The process by which this could be established was unique, in the sense that it did not rely on government funding, corporate sponsorship or private donations.
In 1997, the first step towards this objective was the publication of The Flamed Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, his book on the aesthetics and history of Modern & Contemporary Painting.
The second step was organizing The Intuitive-logic: A Festival of Indian Contemporary Painting in Mumbai (1 March – 19 April 1997). The festival was structured mostly through the resources of HEART and the goodwill of art lovers, avoiding thereby the need for sponsorship. The intent was to increase the awareness and quality regarding the curating and documentation of international standard exhibitions.
The first international quality auction held in India was The Intuitive-logic II in October and November 1997. Without a vibrant financial infrastructure for the arts, creating a credible educational base becomes difficult. In this context auctions are important in increasing awareness regarding the financial aspects of art. The auction established record prices for many artists including Raja Ravi Varma whose painting fetched Rs. 32 lacs, the highest price ever for a modern Indian painting. The catalogue also set new standards for documentation and design.
The belief that a redefined charity could take on the task of building an infrastructure however, received a set back. It was realized that a professional and financially independent establishment was needed to help build a merit-conscious & financially self-sufficient infrastructure for the arts in India, while placing creativity at the heart of this institution-building process.
With this background, Osian's was established by Neville Tuli in 2000, integrating the Creative, the Educational and Corporate Responsibilities in a radically new model. Osian's today is recognized as India's pioneering arts and cultural institution. Simultaneously, Neville Tuli began building the Archive and permanent art collection. International quality Auctions have generated the finance which in turn has supported and subsidized the Centre for Archiving, Research & Development [C.A.R.D] which is occupied with documenting, preserving and researching our artistic and cinematic heritage.
The Osian's Archive is the world's most comprehensive textual and visual archive, collection and library.
In 2004, with Osian's acquisition of Cinefan (The Festival of Asian & Arab Cinema) and Cinemaya (the first Journal in the world dedicated to Asian Cinema) the cinematic infrastructural base widened dramatically, complementing the vast archives.
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
& developmental theorist at London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
& St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, Oxford
St Catherine's College, often called Catz, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its motto is Nova et Vetera...
. He returned to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in 1993 after 25 years in the West. Sensing the need to understand the artistic and cultural systems at every level, he traveled across the country visiting hundred of cities, towns, villages and monuments, trying to grasp the relationship of various individuals and entities to artistic creativity. While the Indian fine art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
s, cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and architectural heritage disciplines were explored anew, they found their place amid philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
and development economics
Development economics
Development Economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in low-income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic growth and structural change but also on improving the potential for the mass of the population, for example,...
, his previous fields of knowledge.
In 1995, he established HEART (The Tuli Foundation for Holistic Education & Art). A registered charitable society, it aimed to help build a quality-conscious infrastructure for the Indian fine art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
s. The process by which this could be established was unique, in the sense that it did not rely on government funding, corporate sponsorship or private donations.
In 1997, the first step towards this objective was the publication of The Flamed Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, his book on the aesthetics and history of Modern & Contemporary Painting.
The second step was organizing The Intuitive-logic: A Festival of Indian Contemporary Painting in Mumbai (1 March – 19 April 1997). The festival was structured mostly through the resources of HEART and the goodwill of art lovers, avoiding thereby the need for sponsorship. The intent was to increase the awareness and quality regarding the curating and documentation of international standard exhibitions.
The first international quality auction held in India was The Intuitive-logic II in October and November 1997. Without a vibrant financial infrastructure for the arts, creating a credible educational base becomes difficult. In this context auctions are important in increasing awareness regarding the financial aspects of art. The auction established record prices for many artists including Raja Ravi Varma whose painting fetched Rs. 32 lacs, the highest price ever for a modern Indian painting. The catalogue also set new standards for documentation and design.
The belief that a redefined charity could take on the task of building an infrastructure however, received a set back. It was realized that a professional and financially independent establishment was needed to help build a merit-conscious & financially self-sufficient infrastructure for the arts in India, while placing creativity at the heart of this institution-building process.
With this background, Osian's was established by Neville Tuli in 2000, integrating the Creative, the Educational and Corporate Responsibilities in a radically new model. Osian's today is recognized as India's pioneering arts and cultural institution. Simultaneously, Neville Tuli began building the Archive and permanent art collection. International quality Auctions have generated the finance which in turn has supported and subsidized the Centre for Archiving, Research & Development [C.A.R.D] which is occupied with documenting, preserving and researching our artistic and cinematic heritage.
The Osian's Archive is the world's most comprehensive textual and visual archive, collection and library.
In 2004, with Osian's acquisition of Cinefan (The Festival of Asian & Arab Cinema) and Cinemaya (the first Journal in the world dedicated to Asian Cinema) the cinematic infrastructural base widened dramatically, complementing the vast archives.
External links
- Osians Home page of the Osian's Group
- Lunch with Business Standard: Neville Tuli
- On Biren's Passing A piece by Neville Tuli on passing of artist Biren De published in TOI Crest