Women artists bring Old M’luru on canvas

As many as 15 women artists converged at the ‘Poorvathorana’, an art camp on DC’s office premises, to bring to life a spectrum of paintings on heritage structures adorning Old Mangaluru.

The art camp was organised jointly by the Dakshina Kannada district administration and Kannada and Culture Department. Artists were seen painting interiors of Zeenath Baksh Juma Masjid, Clock Tower, streets of Mangaluru in the early 20th century, Old Municipality building at Bunder, Hampankatta street in the early 20th century, Bassel Mission, Light House, St Agnes College and so on. The art works presented a diversity in the imaginations of Mangaluru’s
history.

For Khurshid, who was painting the interiors of Zeenath Baksh Juma Masjid, it was an unique experience to bring out the heritage structure onto the canvas. She said, “When I was searching for old heritage structures in Mangaluru, I came across Zeenath Baksh Juma Masjid, with breathtaking beautiful interiors. It has intricately carved rosewood pillars and a carved ceiling. Such camps help us to have a re-look into the history of old heritage structures in
Mangaluru.”

Zena Colaco with hearing and speech impairment says the Old Clock Tower captured her attention. She was seen colouring her work of imagination with her favourite yellow colour as a background. Brincy Colaco, Zena’s mother said; “Zena is a self-taught artist. She had produced a beautiful painting at the age of 13. That painting helped us realise her potential. Zena engages in oil painting, acrylic and mural painting.”

Inaugurating the camp, district administration Additional DC Kumar said that the camp is an attempt to help women artists of Mangaluru to showcase their talent.

The old DC office building has a history spanning back to centuries. There is a need to conserve heritage structures to showcase the history for the future generation. The medium of painting has been used for conserving the heritage structures for future generation, he
stressed.

Stating that painting and drawing has only one language of imagination, he said painting helps in relieving stress. Environmentalist Prabha Kudva was present. Sapna Noronha, Veena Madhusudhan, Jayasri Sharma, Rachana Sooraj, Bhagirathi Bhandarkar, Nisha Bangera, Khurshid, Zena Colaco, Jyothi Shetty, Aishwarya, Dhanya, Jayalskhmi, Ashwitha, Dhanyasri and Apoorva Shetty brought out heritage structures of Old Mangaluru on canvas. Among the artists, there were six students from Mahalasa School of Art as well.