Kapilas Bhuyan
The six-day long Kala Kumbh in Bhubaneswar being organized by the National Gallery for Modern Arts (NGMA), New Delhi under the aegis of the Culture Dept., Govt. of India has come to its closure this evening at KISS campus. The Powerful visual vocabulary is used to recalibrate the history of freedom movement as part of celebrating the 75th Year of Indian Independence – Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsab.
To come up with the visual meta-narrative this workshop is being done involving more than 250 indigenous and contemporary artists from across the states like Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, Jahrkhand, Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh who have delineated the struggle of independence and the stories of unsung heroes using contemporary as well as dozens of traditional art forms, most of which are increasingly vulnerable heritage and in urgent need of revival.
During the workshop attempts are made to tap into the innate creativity of young traditional artists of Pattachitra, Talapatra Chitra and Jhoti-Chitra artists of Orissa, the Medinipur and Kalighat Patachitra artists of Bengal and their Hooghly and Birbhum, Bankura and Burdwan variants, Bihar’s Manjusa and Madhubani artists, the Jadu Patiya artists from Jharkhand and the traditional harvest Sohrai art practiced by Santhala, Munda, Oraon and Prajapati artists, Chhattisgarh’s Pithora and Mirua artists, and artists from Andhra carrying forward Machilipatnam traditions using a quill brush and herbal dyes, etc.
NGMA has collaborated with the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KITT) and Silicon Institute of Technology as local partners in Bhubaneswar to conduct such a mega pan-national event.
(The writer is a Senior Journalist, Art Critic and national Award winning Filmmaker)