Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi’s Dharmapada Award For Aseem Basu To Be Presented To His Wife On Monday

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi will confer its highest honour, ‘Dharmapada Purashkar’ for 2010 on eminent artist late Aseem Basu for his contribution to the world of painting.

Culture Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahy will present the award to the painter’s wife Gita Basu at his residence here on Monday due to COVID-19 restrictions. The prestigious award carries Rs one lakh, a citation and a shawl.

Besides being a painter of repute, Basu was a theatre artiste and director, actor, art director, playwright, and set designer. Born to Motilal Basu and Bijanbala Basu in Kakhada village of Balasore district, he made his debut in play as a director of Bijay Mishra’s ‘Duiti Surya Dagdha Phula Ku Nei’. He directed around 200 plays.

Basu worked as a stage designer for over 500 plays and was the art director for several Odia films. He died of lung infection in 2017 at the age of 81.