Bhubaneswar: As part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, a unique workshop—involving 250 artists from various states—will be hosted by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, in Odisha capital from December 11 to 16.
Sources said the artists would create painting scrolls of 10ft, using various traditional art forms. These painting scrolls will be showcased during the Republic Day parade at the national capital on January 26.
The workshop will involve artists from states like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. In order to adhere to COVID protocols, the workshops will be spread over five days. Five artists, who have been trailblazers, will play the role of mentors and ensure the seamless execution of the event and the artworks.
“We will tap into the innate creativity of young contemporary artists and traditional Pattachitra, Talapatra Chitra and Jholi-Chitra artists of Odisha, Midnapore 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 practised 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,” said an official from NGMA.
Through this initiative, NGMA proposes to use the visual art forms to document the history of the freedom movement by recalibrating the stories of unsung heroes, to create the meta-narrative of 75 years of India’s independence.
“The powerful visual meta-narrative in the form of scrolls to be created will focus on freedom fighters whose tales of valour and extraordinary resilience have been effaced from historical memory transforming them into figures of talismanic resonance,” the official added.
Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and Silicon Institute of Technology will host the participating artists.
