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All Greek Paramjit Singh’s work

An idea of Tunti Chauhan, the gallery director , it also marks the relocation of the gallery to Lado Sarai. The collection was inaugurated by the cultural Ambassadors of Greece and China. The touring artists were consciously kept away from the usual tourist spots . The artists expressed their experiences through this collection .

Artists Gulam Sheikh, Nilima Sheikh, Atul Dodiya, Anju Dodiya, Amit Ambalal, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Gargi Raina and V. Ramesh travelled across China over 16 days. Chauhan says, “Artists were taken to the stepping-back-into-time terrain of Islamic Kashgar on the Silk Route with its blue tiled Id Gah Grand Mosque , the Bezekklik Caves replete with Buddhist murals at Dunhuang, the rugged Yangguan Pass and the Terracotta Warriors at Xian.”

The result is a stunning and varied interpretation of the oriental society. Ramesh says, “It was a shocking revelation to see this new economy that was very different from my imagination. The country is full of construction. I was looking for undercurrents of earlier Buddhist influences which are not seen .”

The influences are evident in his works like ‘The myth of the nine coloured deer’ where Mao’s portrait has been juxtaposed with the fictive deer of the Jataka tales, symbolising the reduction of a historical legend to a mythical figure Nilima’s art showcases the direct influence of the Dunhuang murals, while Anju Dodiya makes a simplistic note on contemporary Chinese society , Atul Dodiya adopts calligraphic methods , and for Ambalal it is a metaphorical burst of colours .

The second stretch covered Greece over eight days in November 2006 with the artists Rameshwar Broota, Vasundhara Tiwari, Gargi Raina, Paramjit Singh and Nataraj Sharma. They travelled to the Acropolis at Athens, the Temple of Poseidon, the Temple of the Oracles at Delphi, the Temple of Zeus and the Theatre of Epidaurus at Olympia. Chauhan says, “The iconic Ram’s head sculpture at the Temple of Apollo museum and the Icarus’ wings story too found internalisation and quiet but compelling rendition in the works of Gargi Raina.” Landscape artist Singh’s graphic absorption of the ochre and earth green sketches of the country can be seen in his art.

The exhibition is on till May 5.

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