JOIN USHighlighting Haryana on the art scene
In an endeavour to highlight the name of Haryana on the art scene, the second Haryana Contemporary Art Exhibition involving about 80 senior and young senior artists of the state was organised in the heart of the national capital.
The decision of Haryana Institute of Fine Arts (HIFA) to organise the six-day exhibition of sculptures, paintings, photographs and graphics at Lalit Kala Academy at Mandi House - cultural hub of the City- aimed at grabbing the maximum attention and bringing its artists to the forefront, something which would not have been possible in the agricultural state.
“During the last few years, fine arts departments have opened in various colleges of Haryana. New artists have come up with a new thinking but sadly there are no galleries in the state to promote them. There could not have been a better venue than Lalit Kala Akademi to highlight these artistes,” Dr Piush Kumar, Secretary, HIFA told Metrolife.
The exhibition that will close today features work of senior artists of Haryana such as Kavita Jaiswal’s acrylic and conte work on paper, Viren Tanwar’s oil painting and O P Sharma acrylic painting. O P Sharma has also served as the principal of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce.
A young artist Anjali Goel’s artwork ‘Brooding-I’ made by using printmaking technique called etching deals with emotions and freedom. Having studied in Baroda, her artwork was inspired from her own life. “I am from Kurukshetra and went to Baroda to pursue masters in printmaking. At that time I was going through lot of emotions. That I have depicted in my artwork,” Anjali told Metrolife. It took her 10 days to create this artwork, a series of four images.
She says a good number of people were always inclined towards art but there are not enough galleries who could promote them. “Parents and relatives would always worry about the career prospects if one studies art. So most people leave it to get a job in another field. But I felt differently.”
As Haryana is called an agricultural state, one could see the glimpses of rural life in some artwork. Graphic ‘Magic of Food’ by Sanjeev Kumar Jangra depicts a man storing grains in his home made of straw dust. Renuka Sondhi Gulati’s colourful drawing ‘You and Me’ portrays a herd of cattle. One of Pradeep Kumar’s wood sculptures ‘Balance’ is about a broody hen protecting her own.
“There is a myth and notion somewhere in the minds of people that Haryana is not at par with other cities in terms of art and culture but Haryana has always been a culturally-rich state. There are around villages in the state which have been named after ragas such as Bhimpilasi, Ramkali, Jaijaiwanti, Malkauns and various others. The state has given so many artists of all fields including legendry photographer Raghu Rai, late Bollywood actor Sunil Dutt, painter Krishen Khanna, vocalist Pandit Jasraj and so on,” informed Piush.
The first edition of Haryana Contemporary Art Exhibition was held at Chandigarh to establish the event. “In last edition, we had 50 artists. This time the quality has also gone up along with the quantity,” added Piush.