Wings given to young dreams

ART ALIVE

The title of  the painting of two white birds trying to fly high says ‘Hope’. The same expression can be felt in the voice of its painter, Mohammad Hussain.

“I belong to a slum in South Delhi and started painting as a signboard painter with my uncle when I was 12. Sometimes, I used to sell corn on the roadside with my 10-year-old sister.

This opportunity to showcase my paintings is like a godsent chance for me,” says this student of Bachelor of Fine Arts from Jamia Millia Islamia, as Metrolife jots down one of the many stories behind the hues, patterns and mediums that 200 young minds have chosen for their artwork.

Perhaps a first-of-its-kind, students’ arts festival ‘Prarambh’ will have not just emotional stories of young artists but also narratives that led to the creating of quality artworks that will be showcased at a commercial level. 

Conceptualised by The Art Route, the upcoming exhibition aims to provide a platform to students of art to not only showcase their work but also gain market exposure even when they are still in college.

“We want to build a platform where artists and individuals from different cultures, geographies and disciplines meet and explore different approaches to the creation of art,” says Lubna Sen, co-founder, The Art Route. She believes that art should be for the masses and thus aims to increase “public interest in art through education and promotion.” 

Ujjwal Ankur, the other co-founder of The Art Route adds, “Prarambh will be a platform for young students of visual arts to receive critical feedback of their art from peers, experts and public. Through the works of their contemporaries, they will also be exposed to different approaches and philosophies in art.”

Sen and Ankur felt strongly for the students who graduate from various art colleges of India after years of training and practice but don’t get the right platform to exhibit their work. Eventually the two came up with the idea of Prarambh and are all set to showcase about 350 artworks by young artists in mediums as diverse as drawing, painting, printmaking, illustrations, digital art, sculpture, photography, installation, new media and mix media!

But those who are not enrolled in any art college and yet have a flair for art needn’t worry because there is scope for them too. Take for instance, Rishi Kochar a student of architecture at Sushant School of Art and Architecture, Gurgaon who is also a budding photographer. His photograph titled ‘River Indus’ is a spectacular example of one of the shots from his kitty of landscape photographs.

“This one particularly is shot in Ladakh in June last year,” says Kochar who has enhanced the colours a bit using a computer software. His other work titled ‘The Other Side’ is a shot of a calm morning in Kashmir Valley where sun emerges from behind the snow-capped mountains.  Another photographer Moksh Krishnan from College of Art, New Delhi captures a young child’s first step into his religion and life through the festivities at Jama Masjid. While Riya V, who is studying at the National Museum Institute depicts the beauty of Lord Krishna through acrylic and ink on paper, Kunal Kalra’s artwork titled ‘Philosophers Bed’ will make an intelligent art lover smile at the artist’s imagination!

The show will be held at IGNCA from October 9 to 12.