23-31 January, 2020 @ Visual Art Gallery & Open Palm Court, New Delhi
Printmaking is a fascinating medium of creative expression that has not only survived the test of time but also evolved through many cultural and technological changes. However, this great tradition of art, which requires a high level of expertise, has been largely overlooked by the art world and has been unknown to the Indian public as an autonomous medium of art. It was imperative to bring this medium to limelight and build larger narratives that allow printmaking practitioners from different parts of the world to come together.
This was the idea behind the cross border art project, Confluence: Celebrating India – Bangladesh Printmaking. Organised by The Art Route and co curated by Prof. Nisar Hossain (Dean, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh) and Lubna Sen, (Art Curator and Founder of The Art Route, New Delhi, India) the project was under the able advisory of “The Multiple Encounters” Group of printmakers comprising Ananda Moy Banerji, Dattatreya Apte, Kavita Nayar, Moti Zharotia and Sushanta Guha.
Nisar Hossain, Dean, Faculty of Fine Art, University of Dhaka and Co-Curator of the Confluence; talks about the printmaking in Bangladesh:
‘Printmaking in Bangladesh is profoundly enriched by the contribution of several internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi artists who have carved a niche for themselves in the global art world. We are fortunate today to inherit an aesthetic, which is an amalgamation of the West, the Far East and our own heritage. Along with them several talented upcoming artists have extended the dialogue further through their enquiry into the medium. The show gave the viewer an opportunity to witness this eclectic mix that defines printmaking in Bangladesh today’.
Ms. Shruthi Issac, Director- Collection Museum Initiative said:
‘The Exhibition makes possible the extending of educational and democratic opportunities to both, the uninitiated and the enthusiast alike the alternative possibilities in art-making. To the uninitiated, this significant Exhibition of selected works allowed the exploration of various printmaking traditions and the unparalleled contribution to this field by the Bengal Master Somnath Hore’.
Ananda Moy Banerji, India, talked about the project, as a member of the advisory committee:
‘True to the word ‘confluence’, which was a place where two rivers met, this exhibition had a fine selection of 12 artists, each from India and Bangladesh who presented a confluence of body, mind and souls. Art, culture and sports the three major wings of a great flight between any two borders and our ‘confluence’ of show of prints has certainly opened up a pragmatic and broad perspective’.
‘While art can exist without a market, artists clearly can’t survive without it. Confluence was a sincere effort from our part to bring printmaking out of its relative obscurity and ambiguity. As thought, leaders of the art world, it is our responsibility to promote artists who, through their lifelong commitment, explored the unique creative potential of this medium and elevated it as an independent art form’, said Lubna Sen.
