The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Artscape
Art for the sake of heart and soul
Ravi Bhatia

Woman puppeteer, a painting by Purva, is being exhibited at Heart and Soul.

Art lovers in the National Capital Territory of Delhi are in for a visual treat with Heart and Soul, a ‘fine arts’ gallery located at Lado Sarai, mounting an exhibition of paintings, graphics and sculptures of some of the famous contemporary artists of the country.

Put together after relentless search and research, the exhibition is curated by Sandeep Magazine who has a reputation in the field of art appraisal and restoration. Among the well-known names, whose works are being exhibited in the unique show, are BC Sanyal, Sarbjeet Singh, Shankar Ghosh, Milan Das, Zakir Hussain, Vinay Khajuria, Mekhla Daulat Singh and Joydip Sen Gupta.

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST: Vision, The Centre of Art is holding an exhibition of old photographs titled “Portraits from yesteryears” which include a collection of photographs from the year 1910 to contemporary times. Beside photographs on a variety of subjects, including members of the Royal Family, aristocrats, ordinary people, freedom fighters and Indian cinema, there are studio portraits and hand-coloured photographs. From 23rd February 2004 to 20th March, 2004, between 11 am to 7 pm daily at M-23, Greater Kailash-II, Opp. Arya Samaj Mandir, New Delhi.

The paintings of Kashmiri Khosa are based on the theme of self-appraisal.

EXPRESSING TRUTH: “This world has come out of nothing and will ultimately merge into nothingness. Man struggles hard to come out of the sheaths of existence and realizes that the evolution process favours living in harmony with nature. I endeavour to depict this truth on canvas through my brush”, says Kashmiri Khosa, a renowned painter, who took painting not as a career but to voice his feelings through his art. Sincerity infused in his paintings inspired the onlookers to dwell on and absorb the resonance and overtones of, what in effect is a theme of self-appraisal, the human spirit trying to make sense of the import of this stay on earth.

According to critics, Khosa’s paintings reflect a crusade to preserve the austerity and ethics of art and gauge twin polarities in the realm of thoughts, from singleness to cosmic oneness, from human bondage to transcendence, where perishable hits self, carried away by endless human desires. The permanent remains behind, merging in the self. If he, on the one hand, paints a man caught in a twisting tornado, on the other, he paints him stilled as `Virath Purusha’. A mortal storm within the man, on one hand, and the same man entering the super consciousness, on the other. Khosa expresses these life-giving themes through dark blues, sparkling golden yellows, natural greens and brilliant whites, as if creating whole `Brahmand’ with air, earth, fire water and space.

Khosa was born on February 1, 1940, in Lahore. He is the son of a famous Gandhian painter, Late Pt. Somnath Khosa. Pandit Khosa devoted around 25 years of his life in painting the whole life of Mahatma Gandhi in about 125 paintings, exhibited in the Gandhi centenary year by Government of India. Many of these paintings now adorn the walls of Gandhi Samriti, Delhi. Painting was imbued in him at a very early age by his father, as well as the rare techniques and, above all, the human values and ethics of art. He equally owes his gratitude to his mother who was a staunch Punjabi lady and a perfect homeopath, a gold medallist of those days; treating the ailing mankind was her dharma. Fond of nature as she was, birds of all kinds would roam fearlessly in her courtyard to feast themselves on grain and bits of loaf.

Art connoisseurs of India are waiting for this major exhibition of his latest series of paintings, to be held in Delhi after five years and in Mumbai after 12 years in April 2005.

KHUSHI KHUSHI: Spirituality in art is a true Indian idiom. Works of art celebrate the love God bestows on us. And artists like Muzaffer Ali revel in this love, dedicating their aesthetics to their Lord God.

Artist...Poet...Writer...Film-maker...Designer... and Creative force....each describe Muzaffer Ali, who needs no introduction in India. Deeply influenced by his heritage and roots, Muzaffer Ali’s solo exhibition personifies his dedication to Sufism as he depicts this love through paintings that are inspired by the writings of Sufi Saint Rumi.

At the culmination of the “Let the Spirits Fly”, part proceeds of the sales from the exhibition shall be contributed to “Khushi” - an NGO under the presidentship of Mr Kapil Dev that is striving towards supporting issues related to social and economic empowerment at the grass-root level.

LAJJA: Lajja is an exhibition of sculptures by Kishore Chakraborty. Kishore hails from Kolkata and studied sculpture at the Ravindra Bharati University. Last year he visited Berllanderi in Wales in the UK with a Charles Wallace India Trust arts award.

Lajja is his first solo show since his return from Berllanderi, where he was exposed to large working spaces and a new visual language, both of which are evident in the work in this show.

The exhibition is on view from February 23 till March 5, 2004, 10 am to 6 pm daily, except holidays, at the British Council, Kasturba Gandhi Marg.

Shashiv Chandran’s mission is to create a design dialogue.

SAREE SAGA: Utsav presents Weave Katha, a celebration of the art of the heritage handloom weaver, from key weaving centres of India - Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, visualized by Shashiv Chandran,from March 1-4, Aga Khan Hall, 6 Bhagwan Das Road, New Delhi.

For over ten years now Utsav has relentlessly pursued its twin dreams of saving India’s fragile textile tradition, especially extant in its Saree weaving, and in creating cross-fertilization among weaving traditions, that respect Indian design and aesthetics. This was the dream that fired Utsav’s founder Shashiv Chandran who simply loves the saree as an eternal garment, which resonates of eternal India.

Utsav creates sarees that are a joy to behold, touch and wear. Each saree is visualized in minute detail in close collaboration with master weavers. Utsav sees each saree as a link with a distinct weave tradition with its own unique personality. The relationship of the weight of the yarn to the pattern, of the pallav to the border, every aspect of the ubiquitous six-metres of cloth adds incredibly to its magic and mystery.

Utsav has identified key master weavers, some of whom work exclusively for Utsav, and other weavers who have taken up the challenge of returning to colloquial weaving roots of their past. In its range of prints, Utsav focuses on vegetable colours, which today have a new and popular market niche. Their intrinsic values are much sought after, are eco-friendly, safe, non-hazardous, gentle, soft and subtle. Utsav works with vegetable dyes like Kashish, Indigo, Harad, Anar Chilka, Alum and Haldi.

Founded in 1993, Utsav’s mission is to create a design dialogue, linking traditional handloom weavers with an aesthetic and quality conscious urban clientele.

A painting of Prafulla Mohanti on display at Dhoomimal Art Centre.

ART MOVEMENT: An exhibition of recent paintings of Prafulla Mohanti, on view till Saturday, March 6, 2004, at Dhoomimal Art Centre 8-A, Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Prafulla Mohanti was born and brought up in the village of Nanpur, Orissa. He went to England in 1960 after graduating as an architect from Bombay. In 1964 he gained a diploma in town planning at Leeds, where in the same year his first one-man exhibition of paintings was held. Since then he has held exhibitions in many parts of the world.

He worked as an architect-planner for the Greater London Council for several years but gave this up to devote himself to painting, writing and creative dance. He has taught painting and dancing to children and has given many performances, relating movement to his paintings.

He is the author of My Village, My Life (Davis-Poynter, Corgi, re-issued by Pimlico Books, London, 2004), Indian Village Tales, Though Brown Eyes (OUP, Penguin), Changing Village, Changing Life (Penguin).

He served as a member of the Festival of India Committee UK in 1982 and persuaded his fellow members to include exhibitions of contemporary art from India and other aspects of contemporary Indian culture. His film, My Village, My Life, was shown on BBC Television during the festival. He has lectured extensively on contemporary Indian art, village culture and creative writing.

He is the President of the Creative Arts Forum, Orissa, which has arranged arts festivals in Bhubaneswar and London to create awareness of the devastating effect of the super cyclone of 1999 on the rural artists of coastal Orissa.