CULTURE

ARTSCAPE
A Himalayan rhapsody that will tug at your heartstrings
Ravi Bhatia

Mountains are the beginning and end of all natural scenery", so said Ruskin. It is more applicable to when it comes to describing the gamut of views that is offered by the Himalayas. The Himalayas, by their sheer size and diversity of habitat, people, flora and fauna, have mesmerised sages, trekkers, adventure seekers, artists and of course photographers. The Himalayas entice and inspire numerous people by their majesty, their awesome dimensions and their splendour. Every sector in the Himalayas has its different set of people, distinguished by their local dress, customs and lifestyle. The Himalayas take on different guises in different seasons, thus making them fascinating throughout the year.

Ansel Adam once said, "I can look at a fine photograph and sometimes I can hear music". Photography provides the same pleasure to the eye as a symphony does to the ear. "I have tried to string together some pictures of the Himalayas, its people and their culture in a rhapsody, which I hope will stir the onlooker’s aesthetic sensibilities. It is also hoped that the show will generate awareness about the fragile Himalayan eco system says Somesh Goyal, about his second exhibition, which will be on at Lalit Kala Akademi from December 5 to December 11, at Gallery 4.

Somesh Goyal is a postgraduate in English literature and Journalism. He taught English literature in a degree college for three years before donning the police uniform in 1984 as an IPS officer. Somesh has served in several districts of Himachal Pradesh, including Shimla, Lahaul and Spiti Chamba and Mandi. He has also been in the Special Protection Group responsible for the security of Prime Minister. Currently, he is DIG in the crack commando outfit, National Security Guard (NSG).

Somesh Goyal is a seasoned trekker, travel writer and a known photographer. He has remained associated with All India Radio for close to a decade and contributes articles and photo features to various newspapers and magazines.

This shutterbug has been taking pictures for the last 25 years and a good number of his works are displayed in a number of business houses and private collections. Recently, one of the pictures taken by Somesh Goyal was selected for the Kodak calendar of 2004, to be distributed in South-West Asia.

He has written five books, all on travel and trekking in Lahaul and Spiti and other parts of Himachal, where he has been working for the last about 20 years.

A keen golfer, he is president of the Himachal Pradesh Golf Association. He has won several tournaments in Delhi, including Lt Governor’s Cup, CAG Cup and DHL Challenge.

The artist is a life member of Indian Mountaineering Institutes of Darjeeling and Uttarakashi, forensic society of India and Loss Prevention Association of India. Earlier, Somesh has had one solo exhibition of his works at Palm Court, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

Structures of Visuality

Shruti Gupta Chandra brings freshness to modern Indian art with her unique interpretation of the reality of our lives. Her compositions lock horns with reality, but in her own individual way. Her artistic expression is a form of knowledge, even though it does not seek to provide any answers in a rational or scientific sense. The job here is to supply experience, a vital one, so that we may sense and feel the intricacies of being human. Out of each of Shruti’s work emerges a human story that is full of strength on one hand, and vulnerability on the other. So, we find anonymous human ciphers, numbers, almost objects on her canvas, not persons. Shruti’s work also reflects the chaos in the urban milieu and seeing through the eyes of a townswoman, she reacts to taut nerves, tense forms. Titled, ‘Structures of Visuality’, Shruti’s solo exhibition of 12 paintings in oil and acrylic is on at Shridharani Gallery from December 1 till December 10.

After her initial training at Triveni Kala Sangam, Shruti has been participating in various All India and State Exhibitions since 1981. These include the National Exhibitions of the Lalit Kala Akademi, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, Sahitya Kala Parishad and the National Biennales held at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.

French connection

Paris-based artist V. Viswanadhan was born in Kerala and is a founder member of Cholamandal near Chennai. The major show, organised by Gallery Escape, showcases his paintings, drawings on Chinese rice paper and his films on the five elements - fire, earth, water, air and ether.

Viswanadhan is arguably the best known Indian painter in Paris. He has shown with some of the best galleries in Europe and India - including the Galerie de France, the Centre George Pompidou and Gallery Darthea Speyer in Paris.

He has won several awards in Europe, including the prestigious Cagnes Sur Mer award. The NGMA, Delhi, held his retrospective in 1998. His body of works is an individualistic journey, beginning with figurative works, turning later to abstraction and geometric forms.

A fine balance

Jammu-based sculptor Rajendar Tiku uses a variety of materials such as wood, thread, stone, nails, terracotta, colours and powder colours and even scrap metal to create his "objects" or sculptures. He recalls that when he had arrived in Jammu, from Srinagar, as a teacher of Fine Arts in 1979, the landscape and the cityscape of Jammu with hills and lanes and by lanes of the city were quite different, not being so crowded at that time. He was especially captivated by the wayside shrines constructed or rather created by the people with modest materials, such as small pieces of wood, stone, pebbles, threads, cloth, and various other varieties, including vermilion.

Water is the element - it connects, is the title of one of his sculptures included in the show presented by Gallery Espace at Open Palm Court Area, India Habitat Centre, beginning December 1. About this particular work, Tiku states: "Water is basic to sustenance. And in addition to being fundamental to sustenance itself, water eternally connects as it flows and symbolises the continuation of time. Transcending barriers, boundaries and interruptions, water connects ceaselessly and ever."

A celebratory act

For the past several years, Varanasi-based sculptor Madan Lal has been drawing, etching, and sculpting the images of rivers and ponds and placing the stylised forms of flowers and vegetation in and around these images of free flowing water and the water stored at a designated space. At times, birds have also appeared near these images, mingling with flowers and vegetation. As far as the medium of sculpture is concerned, Madan Lal has created these images mostly in stone, but has tried other materials as well.

For the present show organised by Gallery Espace, and being held at the Open Palm Court area, India Habitat Centre from December 1, he brings five iron works done on a much bigger scale. And apart from such sculptures in stone or iron, whenever he gets a chance to do installations, he has tried to construct the same images. Thus, once at an artist camp in China, he did a huge installation on the sea-beach using sand only, and the other in Japan was done in paddy fields, using clay and water, and actually "growing" paddy in and around his dear "images". Undeterred by the suggestion of friends, that he should try some other images for his expressions, Madan has not relented, and has often said that the theme of water flowing in a stream, or stored in a place, are not yet exhausted for him.

MUSIC ZONE
Baring the soul of Punjab

Thirty popular, as well as forgotten songs, resplendent with the essence of Punjab, have been collected and translated by Shan Gurdev Singh. Twelve colour illustrations by Tito Singh Metge, her daughter, enhance the remembered songs. A major motivation behind the book was the fact that it was the preservation of the country’s heritage that was being lost, especially amongst the younger generation in India and overseas. The original versions of the songs were being distorted.

Shan also thought that it would be interesting for people to see the traditional lyrics illustrated. Those who know these songs will reminiscence and sing with a tear in their eye, while ‘Songs Remembered’ is an apt introduction to new acquaintances, who will be moved by the emotions they express.

A hundred and fifty years back, Shan Gurdev Singh’s grandfather, who was studying medicine in Agra, would walk twelve miles to the next village to see a nautanki, and return the same night to attend college next day. The author’s folk songs is hereditary. She shares the passion he felt for music and folk songs.

The author was born and brought up in Punjab. She loved poetry and song since her childhood. Her grandmother had her trained in many musical instruments, as well as in vocal music. She topped the list in her Punjabi proficiency exam and memorised almost al the poems in her course work.

She was sent to Delhi to study at Lady Irwin College, where her essays in English were much appreciated and published in the college magazine.

As president of the ‘Thursday Ladies Club’ in Chandigarh for many years, she organised numerous singing and poetry programmes, including plays. She also took active part in them herself. For the first time, Chandigarh ladies took part in Punjabi plays and songs, under her guidance.

Shan Gurdev Singh loved taking part in ladies’ sangeet at weddings, and often took the lead. She loved the typical old songs, which conveyed the poignant feelings of separation and helplessness. She collected some songs from the far-flung villages of Punjab, where her ancestors had lived. She used to paint at one time and wanted her paintings to convey the same message of love that is found in the songs.

The author spent most of her life happily looking after the joint family of her father-in-law. She supervised many weddings that took place in the home. Music was a central pat of these celebrations. Family members sang with her as she played the ‘dholki’. She has put together these very same songs in this volume of poetry. These songs, some sad, some joyous, are embedded in the soul of Punjab, which she so aptly represents. The book was formally released by former Rajya Sabha Member Padma Bhushan Kartar Singh Duggal at India Habitat Centre here on Wednesday.