The art investor, who really is an investor in expression, must be aware of the complexity of the times we live in. There is a global dimension and an Indian one. There are things common in both. These are pointers to the kind of expressions that will characterise our contemporary art that will be worth investing in.

The global situation is characterised by lawless states urging a war on Iraq. Millions of people, and even powerful states like China, Germany and France are opposing a unilateral declaration of war by the US and its satellites.

Naroda Patia, an oil on masonite by Anjolie Ela Menon

The Non-Aligned Movement has thrown its weight behind this tendency. Even the Government of India, despite its vacillations, has had to reproach unilateral calls for war against Iraq.

In these conditions, I would expect collectors of art to seek out works stressing anti-war sentiments and communal harmony.

And it is not surprising that a number of our best artists have painted powerful works that reflect this perspective. The demand for such works is bound to increase to fit the mood of the present.

Among these works, the most sophisticated are the ?Gulf-war? series of Vivan Sundaram who used oil to highlight the greed for oil behind the first US invasion of Iraq, reminding us of its failure and its persistent efforts to acquire the Iraqi oilfields and hold the world to ransom. I would expect the demand for this series to increase among collectors of quality.

Another artist who has done such a series is Sunil Das. Many of his works were done in the US and sold well, both here and abroad. These works express the horror at the destruction that even so-called ?smart? wars involve. They exposed the lies of warmongers and projected the destruction wars involve. It is interesting how Sunil Das? imagery represents the destruction war wreaks on birds, animals, human beings and the environment. He awakens us to the ?total destruction? war involves.

Another theme that has attracted some of our best artists is the nuclear holocaust – a series that was painted by the eminent artist KK Hebbar (one of the works being in the Masanori Fukuoka collection in Japan) as well as by Arpana Caur (whose major work on the theme is in Hiroshima Museum). So collectors ought to be able to access such works with little difficulty. The theme of communal riots and the senseless but politically-motivated violence they entail is covered by a number of our leading artists, going back to the partition series of Satish Gujral.

Then there are the ?Signs of Fire? series of Vivan Sundaram and the ?World goes on? series of Arpana Caur, evoking the horrors of the anti-Sikh riots after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Many of these works are already in museums all over the world.

The Gujarat violence is covered by Ghulam Sheikh?s Modi-like lion pretending to guard cows, or the recent works Anjolie Ela Menon exhibited at the Sridharani Gallery in Delhi sponsored by the Vadhera Art Gallery. There is a poignant painting of a father with the picture of his missing child, Kabir, which could also be a cry for a leadership capable of appealing to both Hindus and Muslims, like the Bhakti saint.

In another work, she explores the destruction of the family in a work entitled Naroda Patiya, the Ahmedabad locality where over a 100 Muslims were killed. It is an extremely sensitive work that reflects how in its present phase of extreme lawlessness, capitalist society today, both at the global and local levels, reflects the destruction of the fundamental institutions industrial society was built on, like the family, property, law and the police. That artists can see the writing on the wall is significant indeed.

Nor is it an accident that our best artists find themselves preoccupied with such themes. They ought to be, for these themes reflect our times and artists must express their heartfelt view of them in as original a manner as they can.

Collectors are advised to tune in to these concerns so as to naturally choose works that are relevant, and therefore, good to invest in.