রং আর ক্যানভাসের সন্ধানে বেড়িয়ে Whatzup Kolkata পৌছে গেল মধুরিমা সিং এর বাড়ি। যার ছবি আঁকাটা শরীরের অঙ্গ গুলির মতোই একটি অঙ্গ হয়ে দড়িয়েছে। আলাপ ও আড্ডায় উঠে এলো ওর ছবি আঁকার গল্প।
১) তোমার ছবি আঁকার শুরু কোথা থেকে?
উঃ- আমার ছবি আঁকার হাতেখড়ি আমার মায়ের কাছে, তারপর আস্তে আস্তে সবার মতোই আঁকা শেখা এবং তারপর আমি 5th year exam দিই এবং H.S. এর কারনে আমার ২ বছর আঁকা বন্ধ ছিল।
২) H.s. এর পর বাবা মা অন্য কিছু নিয়ে পড়তে বলেন নি?
উঃ- আসলে আমি বাবা মা কে বলেই দিয়েছিলাম আমি অন্য কিছু নিয়ে পড়ব না। তাই তারা আর জোর করেননি। তার পর আমি আঁকা নিয়েই পড়তে শুরু করি। কিন্তু জলপাইগুরি থেকে আমার এটা সম্ভব না হওয়ায় আমাকে কলকাতায় আসতে হয়। ৩)তোমার আঁকা গুলোর মধ্যে ছোটদের নিয়ে তুমি বেশি ভেবেছ। তা এর কারন টা কি? মানে এই Theme টাই বাছলে কেন? ছোটদের নিয়ে তো আগে অনেক কাজ হয়েছে।
উঃ- আমাদের শুরুটাই হয় ছোটবেলা থেকে, বড় হয়ে আমরা ছোটদের নিয়ে ভাবি কিন্তু ছোটদের মতো করে ভাবি না, আর আমি আমার ছবি তে বোঝাতে চাই যে তাদের যে আর্তনাদ তাদের ইচ্ছে প্রকাশের জন্য, বিভিন্ন শিশু শ্রমিক দের বেদনাটাই তুলে ধরার চেস্টা করেছি। যে সব গরিব শিশু যাদের খেলনা তো দূরে থাক খাবার টুকুও জোটেনা তাদের অবস্থাটাই আমি তুলে ধরতে চেয়েছি।
৪) তুমি তোমার ছবিতে কাঁটা তাঁরের Use করেছ। সেটা কেন?
উঃ- আমরা যখন কাঁটা তাঁরের পিছনে থাকি তখন কিন্তু আমারা চাইলেও কাঁটা তাঁরটাকে ছুতে পারি না, ছুলেই জানি যে আমাদের হাত কেটে যাবে, তো সেই কারনে একটা বাচ্চা বলছে যে সে বেরোতে চাইছে তার পরিস্থিতি থেকে, কিন্তু সে বেরোতে পারছে না, আসলে আমি কাঁটা তাঁরকে স্বপ্নের সাথে relate করতে চেয়েছি।
৫) তুমি তো অনেক Painting exhibition করেছ। তো তার response কিরকম?
উঃ- মানুষ আসে, ছবি দেখে, বলে যে তাদের খুব ভালো লেগেছে, comment এর খাতা রাখা থাকে সেখানেও ভালো ভালো লিখে যায়, অনেকে বলেন যে আমার ছবিটা খুব পছন্দ হয়েছে, আমি ছবিটা নেব , ফোন নাম্বার নিয়ে যান দাম জানতে চাইলে হয়তো আমি বলি যে ছবিটার দাম ১০ হাজার টাকা, তখন বলেন যে একটু দাম টা কম করুন বা ৭ হাজারে দিতে পারবেন? সেখানে আমার বলার কিছু থাকে না। কারন আমি তো এস্প্ল্যানেডে জামা বিক্রি করছিনা...
৬) মানে ছবির বাজার এরকম হয়ে গেছে?
উঃ- অনেকে তো আবার খুব সুন্দর ছবি বলে ফটো তুলে নিয়ে যায় সেটা বাধানোর জন্য। তারা হাতে আকা ছবি আর ক্যামেরায় তোলা ফটোর তফাতটা বোঝেন না।
খুব ভালো লাগলো মধুরিমা সিং এর সাথে গল্প করে, আমরা আপনাদের শুধু অনুরোধ করতে চাই যে, দয়া করে ছবি কিনুন, নাহলে হয়ত আমরা মধুরিমা সিং এর মতো প্রতিভাদের হারিয়ে ফেলবো।
A Painting Exhibition by “RENASCENTERS”
A Painting Exhibition by "RENASCENTERS"(a group) was held at "Gaganendra Prodorshonsala" from 24th December to 27th December,2013. 9 well-known artists from Kolkata took part in the event. More than 30 paintings are being displayed.
Some rebel souls with a common dream to live their passion formed "RENASCENTERS" with time and effort interests matched and dreams collaborated to make it a group.
A Painting Exhibition by "CONFLICT"(a group) was held at "Gaganendra Prodorshonsala" from 28th October to 31st October,2013.10 well-known artists from Kolkata took part in the event. More than 25 paintings are being displayed.
Some rebel souls with a common dream to live their passion formed CONFLICT with time and effort interests matched and dreams collaborated to make it a group.
Kalighat painting or Kalighat Pat ated in the 19th century Bengal, in the vicinity of Kalighat Kali Temple, Kalighat, Kolkata, India, and from being items of souvenir taken by the visitors to the Kali temple, the paintings over a period of time developed as a distinct school of Indian painting. From the depiction of Hindu gods, goddesses, and other mythological characters, the Kalighat paintings developed to reflect a variety of themes.
History :
In the nineteenth century, the only school of painting that was flourishing in Bengal was the traditional art of scroll paintings that was popular in the rural areas. These paintings were done on cloth or patas. They depicted conventional images of gods and goddesses and scenes from epics like Tulsidas’ Rama charita manas. The artistes were villagers who travelled from place to place with their scroll paintings and sang the scenes from the epics depicted in the paintings during village gatherings and festivals. These artists, called patuas or ‘painters on cloth’ were said to be half Hindu and half Muslim and practised Islam.
The British: Patrons of Indian Art :
Meanwhile the British, having established themselves in the country politically started to evince interest in art, literature, and music. They set up institutions that imparted a European style of academic training to Indian artists. The Calcutta School of Art was one such school and attracted traditional artists–the patuas—to the city. Initially these artists were concentrated around the temple at Kalighat where there was a demand for religious art. Gradually, they started to learn from the newer techniques and discovered that these could help them increase their earnings. They started creating new forms of art and the Kalighat painting was born.
Oriental and Occidental Kalighat :
The Kalighat School was an agreeable and unique blend of two different styles of painting—the Oriental and the Occidental—and steadily gained popularity. Among the deities that the Kalighat artists painted, the goddess Kali was a favorite. Images of Durga, Lakshmi, and Annapurna were also popular, especially during the Durga Puja festival. The artists also portrayed themes like Sita-Rama, Radha-Krishna and the exploits of Hanuman. Another theme depicted, dear to the Bengali ethos, was that of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and his disciples. But the Kalighat artists did not restrict themselves to religious themes. Their paintings depicting different professions and costumes were also popular with the tourists. Even contemporary events like crime were the subject of many paintings. The artists also chose to portray secular themes and personalities and in the process played a role in the Independence movement. They painted heroic characters like Tipu Sultan and Rani Lakshmibai.
Capturing Quotidian Life :
An important achievement of the Kalighat artistes was that they made simple paintings and drawings, which could easily be reproduced by lithography. Such prints were then hand coloured. This trend continued up to the early part of the twentieth century and these paintings ended up in museums and private collections. The charm of the Kalighat paintings lies in the fact that they captured the essence of daily life and they influence modern artistes like the late Jamini Royeven to this day.
Bengal School of Art
The Bengal School of Art commonly referred as Bengal School,was an influential art movement and a style of Indian painting that originated in Bengal, primarily Kolkata and Shantiniketan, and flourished throughout India during the British Raj in the early 20th century. Also known as 'Indian style of painting' in its early days, it was associated with Indian nationalism (swadeshi) and led by Abanindranath Tagore (1871-1951), but was also promoted and supported by British arts administrators like E. B. Havell, the principal of the Government College of Art, Kolkata from 1896; eventually it led to the development of the modern Indian painting.
History :
The Bengal school arose as an avant garde and nationalist movement reacting against the academic art styles previously promoted in India, both by Indian artists such as Raja Ravi Varma and in British art schools. Following the influence of Indian spiritual ideas in the West, the British art teacherErnest Binfield Havell attempted to reform the teaching methods at the Calcutta School of Art by encouraging students to imitate Mughal miniatures.This caused controversy, leading to a strike by students and complaints from the local press, including from nationalists who considered it to be a retrogressive move. Havell was supported by the artist Abanindranath Tagore, a nephew of the poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore painted a number of works influenced by Mughal art, a style that he and Havell believed to be expressive of India's distinct spiritual qualities, as opposed to the "materialism" of the West. Tagore's best-known painting, Bharat Mata (Mother India), depicted a young woman, portrayed with four arms in the manner of Hindu deities, holding objects symbolic of India's national aspirations. Tagore later attempted to develop links with Japanese artists as part of an aspiration to construct a pan-Asianist model of art. Other painters and artists of Bengal school were Gaganendranath Tagore (Tagore's brother), Asit Kumar Haldar, M.A.R Chughtai, Kiron Sinha, Sunayani Devi (sister of Abanindranath Tagore), Kshitindranath Majumdar, Nandalal Bose, Kalipada Ghoshal, Sughra Rababi and Sudhir Khastgir.
The Bengal school's influence in India declined with the spread of modernist ideas in the 1920s. As of 2012, there has been a surge in interest in the Bengal school of art among scholars and connoisseurs.
Madhubani art
Madhubani painting or Mithila painting is a style of Indian painting, practiced in the Mithila region of Bihar state, India and the adjoining parts of Terai inNepal.Painting is done with fingers, twigs, brushes, nib-pens, and matchsticks, using natural dyes and pigments, and is characterized by eye-catching geometrical patterns. There are paintings for each occasion and festival such as birth, marriage, holi, surya shasti, kali puja, Upanayanam, durga puja etc.
Origins :
Madhubani painting/Mithila painting has been done traditionally by the women of villages around the present town of Madhubani and Darbhanga (the literal meaning of Madhubani is forests of honey) and other areas of Mithila. The painting was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts, but now they are also done on cloth, T-Shirt, handmade paper and canvas. Madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice. Madhubani painting has remained confined to a compact geographical area and the skills have been passed on through centuries, the content and the style have largely remained the same. And that is the reason for Madhubani painting being accorded the coveted GI (Geographical Indication) status. Madhubani paintings also use two dimensional imagery, and the colors used are derived from plants. Ochre andlampblack are also used for reddish brown and black respectively.
Madhubani paintings mostly depict the men & its association with nature and the scenes & deity from the ancient epics. Natural objects like the sun, the moon, and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted, along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings. Generally no space is left empty; the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds, and even geometric designs. Objects depicted in the walls of kohabar ghar (where newly wed couple see each other in the first night) are symbols of sexual pleasure and procreation.Traditionally, painting was one of the skills that was passed down from generation to generation in the families of the Mithila Region, mainly by women.
Styles :
There are five distinctive styles in Madhubani art -Bharni, Katchni, Tantrik, Godna & Gobar painting . In 60's Bharni, katchni & tantrik styles were mostly practise by upper caste and Godna & Gobar style by Harijan & Dalits . Now-a-days there is no caste-bar among the artists for their creativity in Madhubani Art . Work in Madhubani Art can be seen in Craft Museum - New delhi, Chandradhari Mithila museum - Darbhanga, Museum of sacred Art - Belgium, Mithila museum- Japan, Museum of Norway & many other places . Artists and awards :
Madhubani painting received official recognition in 1970, when the President of India gave an award to Jagdamba Devi, of Jitbarpur village near Madhubani. Other painters, Mahasundari Devi (2008),Sita Devi, Godavari Dutt, Bharti Dayal and Bua Devi were also given National award. Smt Bharti Dayal won an Award from All India Fine Arts and Crafts for fifty years of art in independent India and the state Award for kalamkari in Mithila Painting and her painting "Eternal Music" bagged the top award in Millennium Art Competition from AIFAC for the year 2001.Smt Bharti Dayal is also Honoured with The Vishist Bihari Samman amid festivities to commemorate 100 year of Bihar. She has been honoured with Indira Gandhi Priyadarshini Award 2013 for her exceptional work in Madhubani Art, globally too.
Legacy :
However Bengal continues to produce some of the best artists of modern India.There is a department in Govt.College Of Art & Craft that has been training students the traditional style of tempera and wash painting for almost a century now .These students are carrying the legacy of the Bengal School artists, who initially were a group of artists,following Abanindranath's style and sharing his aesthetic vision Among them Dhirendranath Brahma is the living legend of Bengal school of art.He is a master of calligraphy and has innumerable students who are carrying on the tradition of Bengal School of painting.Among the other renowned artists of this style of painting are Ajoy Ghosh,Sankarlal Aich,Amal Chaklader,Narendranath De Sarkar,Sukti Subhra Pradhan& Ratan Acharya. Some of the best known artists of present day Bengal are Ganesh Pyne, Manishi Dey, Shanu Lahiri,Ganesh Haloi Nirmal Dutta, Nilima Dutta, Jahar Dasgupta, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Sudip Roy and Devajyoti Ray. Sanat Chatterjee is one of the last living pioneer of Bengal School of art. Studied under Asit Kumar Haldar around fifteen years.
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Pattachitra
Pattachitra is a general term for traditional, cloth-based scroll painting, based in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.In the Sanskrit language, "Patta" literally means "cloth" and "Chitra" means "picture".
Origin and History: The painting the 'pattachitra' resemble the old murals of Odisha especially religious centres ofPuri,KonarkandBhubaneshwarregion, dating back to the 5th century BC. The best work is found in and around Puri, especially in the village ofRaghurajpurOrigin and History.The painting the 'pattachitra' resemble the old murals of Odisha especially religious centres of Puri, Konark and Bhubaneshwar region, dating back to the 5th century BC. The best work is found in and around Puri, especially in the village of Raghurajpur. This old tradition of Oriya painting still survives in the places like Puri, Raghurajpur, Paralakhemundi, Chikiti and Sonepur.In the past professionerise, there was no distinct separation between the master painters and master sculptors; so the possibility of a simultaneous origin of painting and sculptural art in Odisha can not be ruled out. Even today in Odisha, these two crafts are combined inone and these artists and known as Chitrakaras, their title remains mostly Mohapatra or Maharana. Strangely enough, painting appeared in Odisha rather later, several centuries after the construction of the great temples of Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark.here exists a good number of paintings from 18th century onwards in many temples and Mathas especially in the southern districts of Odisha. Lord Jagannath in the present from is being taken as the origin of the Patta style. The colour schemes of the deities of Puri are quite similar to those of the Patta style. The oldest record of Patta Paintings does not probably go beyond the establishment of the present shrine of Shri Jagannath at Puri. It may be due to the fact that paintings do not survive like sculptures. The paints inside the shrines of Lord Jagannath at Puri make the date probable. The oldest classical marble paintings of Sitabanji at Keonjhar do not conform to the present style of Patta painting wholly. The wooden statues of the three deities are also covered with cloth and then overlaid with glue mixed with chalk, and then given paint only with four limited colours of red, yellow, white and black. The deities who are held in high esteem by the Oriyas and who inspire religion, life and activity of the people also carry with them a tradition of art and painting which is as old as the deities themselves. If the Savara origin of Jagannath is accepted, the date of the Patta paintings can be dated back to an earlier period. These paintings were originally substitutes for worship on days when the temple doors were shut for the 'ritual bath' of the deity.
This old tradition of Oriya painting still survives in the places like Puri, Raghurajpur, Paralakhemundi, Chikiti and Sonepur.In the past professionerise, there was no distinct separation between the master painters and master sculptors; so the possibility of a simultaneous origin of painting and sculptural art in Odisha can not be ruled out. Even today in Odisha, these two crafts are combined inone and these artists and known as Chitrakaras, their title remains mostly Mohapatra or Maharana. Strangely enough, painting appeared in Odisha rather later, several centuries after the construction of the great temples of Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark.here exists a good number of paintings from 18th century onwards in many temples and Mathas especially in the southern districts of Odisha. Lord Jagannath in the present from is being taken as the origin of the Patta style. The colour schemes of the deities of Puri are quite similar to those of the Patta style. The oldest record of Patta Paintings does not probably go beyond the establishment of the present shrine of Shri Jagannath at Puri. It may be due to the fact that paintings do not survive like sculptures. The paints inside the shrines of Lord Jagannath at Puri make the date probable. The oldest classical marble paintings of Sitabanji at Keonjhar do not conform to the present style of Patta painting wholly. The wooden statues of the three deities are also covered with cloth and then overlaid with glue mixed with chalk, and then given paint only with four limited colours of red, yellow, white and black. The deities who are held in high esteem by the Oriyas and who inspire religion, life and activity of the people also carry with them a tradition of art and painting which is as old as the deities themselves. If the Savara origin of Jagannath is accepted, the date of the Patta paintings can be dated back to an earlier period. These paintings were originally substitutes for worship on days when the temple doors were shut for the 'ritual bath' of the deity.
Theme and Styles :
The theme of Oriya painting centres round the Jagannath and the Vaishnava cult. Since beginning of Pattachitra culture, Lord Jagannath who was an incarnation of Lord Krishna has been the major source of inspiration. The subject matter of Patta Chitra is mostly mythological, religious stories and folk lore. Themes are chiefly on Lord Jagannath and Radha-Krishna, different "Vesas" of Shri Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra, temple activities, the ten incarnations of Vishnu basing on the 'Gita Govinda' of Jayadev, Kama Kujara Navagunjara, Ramayana, Mahabharata. The individual paintings of gods and goddesses are also being painted. The Pattachitra style are mix of both folk and classical elements but leanings more towards folk forms. The dress style hasMughal influences. All of the poses have been confined to a few well-defined postures. These are not free from monotonous repetitions, though at times this is necessary to accentuate the narrative character of the style. The lines are bold and clean and angular and sharp. Generally there are no landscapes, perspectives and distant views. All the incidents are seen in close juxtaposition. The background on which the figures are represented, is delineated with decorations of flowers and foliages and is mostly painted in red colour. All the paintings are given decorative borders. The whole painting is conceived in the form of a design on a given canvas. The themes may be classified into following categories :
Jagannath paintings
Vaishnav Paintings
a)Bhagabat paintings b)Ramayana paintings
Saiva paintings
Shakta paintings
Paintings as legends
Ragachitras
Bandhachitra
Yamapati and yatripatas – (sketches of puri temple) Ganjapa playing card paintings and other socials themes on paintings.
Colour :
In the 16th century, with the emergence of Bhakti movement the paintings of Radha and Krishna were painted in vibrant shades of orange, red and yellow. There are typical scenes and figures like Krishna, Gopis, elephants, trees and other creatures are seen in these paintings. Krishna is always painted in blue and Gopis in light pink, purple or brown colours.
The painters use vegetable and mineral colours without going for factory made poster colours. They prepare their own colours.White colour is made from the conch-shells by powdering, boilingand filtering in a very hazardous process. It requires a lot of patience. But this process gives brilliance and premanence to the hue. 'Hingula', a mineral colour, is used for red. 'Haritala', king of stone ingredients for yellow, 'Ramaraja' a sort of indigo for blue are being used. Pure lamp-black or black prepared from the burning of coconut shells are used. There was no blue either cobalt or ultramarine in the earlier colour schemes. The colours used in the Patta paintings are primarily bright colours, limited to red, yellow, indigo, black and white. The brushes that are used by these 'Chitrakaras' are also indigenous and are made of hair of domestic animals. A bunch of hair tied to the end of a bamboo stick make the brush. It is really a matter of wonder as to how these painters bring out lines of such precision and finish with the help of these crude brushes.
Palm leaf Pattachitra :
Palm leaf pattachitra which is in Oriya language known as Tala Pattachitra drawn on palm leaf. First of all palm leaves are left for becoming hard after being taken from tree.Then these are sewn together to form like a canvas. The images are traced by using black or white ink to fill grooves etched on rows of equal-sized panels of palm leaf that are sewn together. These panels can also be easily folded like a fan and packed in a compact pile for better conservation.Often palm-leaf illustrations are more elaborated, obtaining by superimposing layers that are glued together for most of the surface, but in some areas can open like small windows to reveal a second image under the first layer.
Pattachitra in West Bengal :
A very similar form of painting is performed by Chitrakar singing women, mainly from Patua community of Midnapore in West Bengal. Locally, these painted scrolls are also called Paubha, and they may refer to traditional stories, or to more modern social issues as well.