It seems to have been designed by someone who has more in common with Professor Arora of `Rishte Hi Rishte' fame than with anyone who has anything to do with art. It is perhaps the most unoriginal national exhibition I have seen. And that it comes at a time when Indian art is doing well is appalling.The awards, too, are for works that lack originality. Arunkumar H G's flocked latex flowers are a pale echo of Anita Duhe's sculptures. Binoy Varghese's work chosen for an award reminds one of a ploy used by Paresh Maity. In fact, the artist has done far better work, which should have been looked at more closely.

Similarly S D Hari Prasad Achari'ssculpture, Yogi K S Ranganathan's photographic works, Shridhar Iyer's Journey With Colour and Images, and Kishore Shinde's Dockyard, while they reflect a certain technical virtuosity, lack originality. The only work among the awardees that really qualifies is Samir Roy's Aroma-Therapist-I.

All in all, it is evident that a deep-rooted feeling of conservation is being imposed on our visual arts for fear that they might become a threat to an already crumbling establishment.

In a sense, it is good that the bureaucracy is doing this. This way, it will only succeed in descrediting itself further. And the genuine art world will be free to carry on without such doubtful patronage.

The perspective is strongly Vadodara-oriented, but that should not surprise us too much as Vadodara has given us some of our best contemporary artists. But it must also be remembered that Vadodara is fast becoming passe today. Santiniketan is definitely a note ahead and Delhi, too, is coming up as an alternative centre. So, one sensesa feeling of deja vu in this exhibition as it is curated. It is, to put it bluntly, a stale show that offers little that can be called a window to the future. Nor have the invitees given their best to it, if one compares the work of Madhvi Parekh here with what she has contributed to the Nature Morte gallery, or the skimpy works of Nilima Sheikh.

The best thing one can say about this exhibition is that it is supremely irrelevant. It lacks vision, cannot distinguish the original from the unoriginal, and is a pale reflection of Western trends, when the West is not likely to be an arbiter of taste in the 21st century unless some earth-shaking changes away from consumerism and nostalgia take place in the societies constituting them. But then, many of these trends, too, would be considered garbage if that happens.

As regards pricing, the works as a whole appear to be over-priced, which is not surprising as buying committees appointed by the government are notorious for buying sub-standard works for inflatedprices. But I was still glad to see that there are gifted young sculptors like Ariyallur Rajan with an excellent work for Rs 5,000; an excellent painting by Sachin Karne for Rs 7,000; and a two-plate etching by Mukesh Sharma. These are works I would consider bargains by any standards.

Other works that are worth collecting and which hold promise are: Some's fabric creation, 13th May Pokhran; Chintan Upadhyay's They Hugged Each Other Like a Sandwich; and, Alok Bal's Bridge No. 7. Among the young artists to look out for, we have Diptish Ghosh Dastidar, Amitava Dhar, Anjali Dhawan, G E Gurudasappa and Srikanta Paul. And among sculptors, Ankit Patel's kinetic work stands head and shoulders above the others. Still, for a national show, talent is spread very thinly indeed.