Roy says that for him the completion time of a painting determines the title of that painting. Abstraction as a process and a projection through contemplation builds inside Sudip and that perchance gives his works another complexion. When Roy moved to Delhi in the mid 90’s, his subjects of study were mainly architectural such as monuments as also still life, figurative work, portraits and body postures, which have been a focus for most part of his life. He forged his own style of modern painting for which he is acclaimed.

Roy had his first solo show at Delhi in 1996 at Art Today, which made headlines in media – his work was sold out within a few hours of the exhibition. Some of his noted shows include exhibitions at Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata in 1986, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 2004, Kalakriti Art Gallery & Artworld at Chennai and Hyderabad in 2016. Select works that are well-known are displayed at the Museum of Sacred Art, Belgium, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata, Indian Embassy, USA, Delhi Art College, Indian Parliament and Kerala Museum, Kochi.

Written by Tushar Singh

Citing popular examples like Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty, he spoke about what qualified as land art and how this was literally a break away from the age of industrialisation. He also spoke about Bonsai as an art form and other Zen practices lending to thoughts & styles behind a lot of Asian cinema. Kaushik argument showed us the viewpoints of how these movements helped bring art & cinema closer to ecology in a sense. Understanding all these theories was more than a glimpse, letting us enter the fascinating landscape of Asian cinema, exposing us to many new concepts and schools of thought.

Written by Anshul Kapoor

Pooja’s cultural roots are very strong and this journey began with her sister many years ago when they started working towards creating livelihoods for the rural artisan community, specially in Orissa and West Bengal. A passionate explorer, she would spend even her holidays living with communities and understanding their culture. The first time they visited Orissa, the sisters were in a village where the locals barely understood Hindi. They wanted to work with the local women and their idea was to use their skill set in creating small hand bags. With this endeavor in mind, they gave materials to the local people to work with and the women started making bags. When the end products were ready, the duo realized the bags had been produced in varied sizes. From such early experiences, Pooja started to learn the kind of knowledge building required to bring crafts into the present-day context.  

At Potli they explore cultural identities through arts and crafts to enable children to understand the visual language of a culture. As children today are not exposed to different cultures they are unaware of many nuances. The aim of Potli is to introduce children to their cultural roots as well as the collective identity. Through young minds, they attempt to close the gap between the assumed identity and the real identity. The products they create are fun and interactive for the children. To create such interesting and beautiful products, a clear process is followed. It starts with identifying the artisans who live in mostly backward rural areas. The team work with them and make them a part of the project. The artists have a fair share of the profits from the products that are sold.

In the process of research the team at Potli came across the ganjifa cards, which is a card game consisting of playing cards that are most associated with Persia and India. The art of playing these ancient cards is still alive in parts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Fascinated by their find, they spent six years of research to finally give shape to the product. We enjoyed going through these colorful products of Potli, many of which are DIY kits for children. It was rewarding to find out how Pooja is helping our society revive its past through Potli.

Written by Ankita Singh

The core team, Utkarsh Chandola, Meghna Ajit and Joginder Deb Burman at UCMA design studio faced several challenges, including cultivating bamboo in a dry river bed, protecting small saplings from elephants, rabbits and cows. They had to convince farmers who were resistant to growing bamboo, worried it would destroy their other crops. Of the 1 lakh 50 thousand bamboo saplings that were planted over two years, only few were saved. Nevertheless, the project demonstrated huge potential and culminated in an extensive community development exercise. Beeja took this ahead as a self-supported and self-funded initiative from 2007 onwards.

Continuing with the project intent, in 2007, at Pilkhua, a handloom hub, Meghna formed a group with support from Arshad Kafeel (National Awardee in block carving) and his family. Much time, effort and resources were invested to integrate the existing craft with other materials and techniques. In place of inlay work, the team from Beeja brought in different methods of colour staining wood and introduced cheaper woods like rubber, mango and chirpine to address mass production needs of the market. Wood carving patterns were developed alongside. To promote the local authenticity of the region and to bring back value to block carving, they studied the history of block carving in Pilkhua, identified motifs and integrated cultural stories for their craft. An extensive product range emerged, which was marketed through multiple retail chains and curated shops across the country. It was an important exercise to revitalize craft for the mainstream market and not let it remain exclusive for limited customers. This group stayed in focus till 2012-13. These product ranges are now being successfully marketed by the block carver families of the region, managing large orders with a new direction.

Simultaneously, the team was developing and shaping other livelihood groups. Eventually, Beeja identified and groomed nine groups of existing crafts and indigenous skills around the Pilkhua region: Block Carving, Block Printing, Needle Work, Handloom Revival, Henna – Cone craft, Natural Dye, Rope Making, Papier mache and Bamboo work. Meghna’s dream was to set up a model project in bamboo that could be replicated across the country. Persisting, she engaged with the community, knocking on every door. Eventually, they identified a ‘Bamboo group’ within the community, which was trained to make furniture in bamboo keeping in mind their skills, understanding and other local abilities.

Papier mache group and craft, an all-woman unit, is a subtle and unique achievement for Beeja. The integration of papier mache with cone craft, emerged with a unique identity over the years, called ‘Beeja Art’ in local bazaars. Co-working thus brought in an interesting character by the combination of crafts and materials with the languages of crafts flowing into one another. There is a new energy and hope with groomed young artisans. Renewed efforts are on to make these groups self-sustainable. With this, Project Beeja entered the sphere of “craft entrepreneur training”, training youth and making them responsible for marketing and production. Entrepreneurs are directly linked to the market, where they sell their own designs. Beeja also started looking at the overall wellbeing of the community in health and for education.

With realisation that intervention at the primary education level with hands-on experience ensures continuity with previous generations, Beeja is now focussing on developing appropriate education systems in the rural scenario, alongside supporting enterprises that have come up in the community.

Written by Deekshit Sebastian