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Flowering Time of Galleries

Winter is the time of fun and frolic for the Kolkatans. A lot of activities keep them busy round the season The Kolkata Book Fair follows the Craft, Leather (LEXPO) and Trade fairs. The book fair, for which the avid readers wait all round the year, was inaugurated on 9th February, with Australia being the focal theme this year. The Dover Lane Music Conference has marked its end only a couple of weeks ago. This is the rendezvous for music lovers to get in touch with the maestros once in a year, such as Pt. Chaurasia, the Gundecha brothers, and a whole host of others. A replica of this is witnessed once again at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture , Golpark, on 12th February, that celebrates the birthday of  Swami Vivekananda. This is also the time for the theatre festivals to take over. Consequently, a number of old shows, too, are staged during this time by theatre groups such as Rangkarmee, Nandikar and Pancham Vaidik. Shaonli Mitra, (director, Pancham Vaidik) has re-staged her historical show, ‘Nathobati, Anathobath’, recently.
           
In the art scene, too, annual shows are of prime importance. The CIMA Annual Show, ’06, has just marked its end on 3rd February. This time the emphasis was more on the young artists, although seniors were present as well. As far as experiment is concerned, the young creative minds such as Veer Munshi (his work ‘Sharp Nails’ bear strong political statements and addresses issues such as identity and nationality), Shakila, Reshmi Bagchi Sarkar , Chandana Hore,Jaya Ganguli, Kingshuk Sarkar, Ramendra Nath Kashtha have out shadowed their senior counterparts. Shipra Bhattacharya’s incorporation of body art in her paintings has added a new dimension to her works. Samir Aich, Suvaprasanna, Partha Pratim Deb  were among the other artists. CIMA’s current exhibition features Bikash Bhattacharya’s works from 1959 to 2000, to commemorate the death of the artist, who has just passed away. The show is on from 6th to 14th February. The Charukala Parshad’s annual show at the Gaganendra Pradarshashala and the Rabindra Sadan – Nandan premises will be on till the 10th of this month. Apart from young professionals and students, the show comprises of Ramananda Bandopadhyay, Bijan Chowdhury,Shanu Lahiri, Uma Siddhant and others.

‘Creativity and Concern for Humanity’ is a gigantic show organized by the group Forum 91 in aid of the Academy of Fine Arts, to pay tributes to the two sculptors – Somenath Hore and Sankho Chowdhury. Interestingly enough, the group had also organized for three workshops on sculpture (on bronze casting) , painting and drawing – and the outcome of these were in display along with rare works of the artists in the past. For instance, K.G. subramanian’s study of the chickens from Lena Chowdhury’s collection is a rare experience. Chapala Ranjan Raha’s studies and drawings of the 1930’s reflect the institutionalized, pedagogical training of the time. The list of the participating artists is a huge one including Dhiraj Chowdury ( who has conceptualized the show), Anita Roy Chowdhury, Sohini Dhar, Uma Siddhant , Bani Prasanna and others.

The gallery Art Space India has commissioned a very interesting show of the paintings of the aboriginal folk artists in collaboration with RAD.  The show titled ‘The aboriginal Touch’ is on till 20th February.

A lot of new galleries have flowered in Kolkata during the recent times and are presenting shows of prime importance. A couple of weeks ago, Gallery Akriti had curated a show called ‘ On Their Own: An Exhibition of Abstract Paintings’, where one came across abstract water colours of artists such as Hussain, S.H Raza, Ramkumar and others. The works were surprisingly different from the signature paintings of these artists. These reflected their spontaneous plays on paper and canvases, catching them at raw. Mona Art Gallery in the same location has been featuring Jogen Chowdhury’s line drawings, titled ‘Flowing Lines’ and will be on till 25th February. Good news for Kokatans!