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Friday, Mar 07, 2008
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New Delhi

Art that leads to enlightenment

A fund-raising exhibition aimed at educating underprivileged children

With a difference: Acrylic on canvas by M. F. Husain.

Aimed at imparting education to children below the poverty line is a five-day multi-dimensional exhibition that opens at Shrine Gallery in the Capital this Friday. “Shiksha-2008” will display the works of established as well as upcoming artists, making it a comprehensive show of Indian contemporary art.

According to curator Aruna Bhowmick, the fund-raiser will showcase 200 works by over a hundred artists.

“Handpicked for quality and visual appeal, the collection has a sparkle about it wherein virtually every work exudes character. M. F. Husain’s acrylic on canvas comes as a surprise, so different from his earlier works. Neeraj Goswami’s treatment of colours in the two paintings included is subtle and in exceedingly good taste. T. Vaikuntham, Laxma Goud and Laxman Aley are redoubtable inclusions, as are Lalu Shaw, Gogi Saroj Pal, Surya Prakash and Yusuf Arakkal.”

Stating that the blend of abstract and figurative art as well as the variety of mediums offered makes the exhibition a balanced and well-mixed one, Aruna says: “Within the range of abstractionists that adorn the walls are artists like Anees Niyazi, Anwar, Harshvardhan, Lala Ramanad and Surinder, among old stalwarts such as Achuthan Kudallur, Prabhakar Kolte, Shamendranath Mazumdar and others.”

The sculptors are relatively few limited to Himmat Shah, Bimal Kundu and Atul Sinha, all of whom will put up bronzes.

Targeted towards a noble cause, the exhibition is being organised by Delhi Friends Round Table 146, part of Round Table India, an organisation of young men working towards raising finance for creating the infrastructure to educate underprivileged children so that they can stand on their own feet.

Delhi Friends Round Table 146 believes if each and every professional and entrepreneur in India supports education of ten young children, the country would be able to produce a large pool of educated youths. Its national project, “Freedom Through Education”, focuses on educating one million children by this year-end.

According to Round Table India national president Ajay Handa, the event seeks to bring some brilliant artists under the same roof. “Round Table India is an organisation of young men between the age group of 18 and 40. The aim of the young men is to promote service, fellowship and goodwill in national and international affairs. The unique feature of the organisation is that it always remains young because the members retire when they turn 40, giving way to younger people,” he adds.

The show will travel to The Imperial hotel on Janpath in New Delhi on March 12 for a day.

Madhur Tankha

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