Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - Live
Sir JJ School of Art faces the heat as students continue to protest
Students are staging protests against the lack of basic facilities in the institution and paucity of faculty
MUMBAI: “I am the only source of income for my family,” said Rishikesh Salve, a second-year student at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy or JJ School of Art. He works after college hours or on weekends to financially support his family after his father’s sudden demise during the pandemic.
“As hostels are not available, I need to earn money to cover my living expenses in Mumbai and send some money home. If the government provides hostel accommodations, it will help me balance my income and expenses,” added Salve. He shares an accommodation at Wadala.
Ashwin Borse – a Nashik resident – waited for two years to study fine arts at the 165-yearold institute. However, when he finally got through this year, it left him deeply disillusioned.
“When I arrived on campus in September, I discovered there is no in-house hostel and the majority of the faculty members are not permanent,” he said. Borse is a first-year fine art student, who shares an accommodation in Vashi.
For the last two days, Borse and Salve are among scores of students who have been protesting against the lack of basic infrastructure such as hostels as well as the quality of education.
“Our main demand is filling vacant faculty posts as early as possible. We are also demanding hostel facilities for students,” said Santosh Parkar, general secretary of the institute.
In 2010, the hostel building was declared dangerous following which the hostel administration stopped taking in students. In 2014, the hostel was shut down and did not reopen.
Former faculty members and alumni said stories of students such as Borse and Salve demonstrate how the state government for years has ignored the problems that have been plaguing Sir JJ School of Art.
Contemporary Indian artist and alumnus (1980-1985) Sudharshan Shetty, said, as students, they voiced the same issues almost 30 years ago.
“When I visited the institute before the lockdown, the situation looked much worse than it did when I studied,” he said. Shetty said the institute needs to connect with the outside world, redesign the curriculum, and offer its space to experts from diverse fields like engineers and filmmakers.
“Art schools across the world are going through a crisis on how art should be taught. It can no longer be only within the studio. There’s a need to redefine how art is taught in India and create new ways of looking at things,” said Shetty, who was formally trained as a painter at the institute.
“Art is an evolving process. Today is the era of postmodern art, but in our education system we don’t have teachers who teach us this subject, which is one of the main reasons for the downfall of JJ institute,” said Rajesh Pullarwar, alumni of the institute and printmaker.
A former professor of the institute said that for the past three decades, successive state governments, irrespective of the political party, have not paid heed to the problems at the JJ School of Art.
“Not a single permanent faculty post has been filled by the government,” he said.
Meanwhile, students have decided to continue protesting till they get a written assurance that their demands will be met. Professor Vishwanath Sabale, dean of Sir JJ School of Art and director of the Directorate of Art said, “We are working on students’ demands. The Directorate has asked the government to fill all 159 vacant positions. The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) will begin the process very soon.”
He added that there were discussions with authorities of the Mumbai University about providing accommodations at the university’s ‘B-Road’ hostel to the students from the institute.