[{"content":"The Artists Resurgence Thrust focuses on promoting art \u0026amp; culture in India, and works towards its goals through exchange programs, educational activities, enabling the underprivileged, and through art and cultural events.\nWe believe culture evolves and innovates through interaction and introspection, and that art and culture can thrive only in an interdisciplinary environment.\nSince 2001, we have worked towards creating this environment, through experimentation and explorations leading to non-linear ways of thinking.\nPeople ARTS-GLACERHI\u0026rsquo;s founding fathers were (Late) Prof. Dinkar Kowshik, (Late) Prof. B.C. Sanyal, and the Founding Patron (Late) Shri. Satyajit Ray. Our society\u0026rsquo;s founders are students of these monumental figures, and have rich and varied experience in the fields of art, culture, architecture and management.\nBoard of Directors Chairperson: Mrs. Zoya Raikhy Sharma\nGeneral Secretary: Mr. Vijay Kowshik\nTreasurer: Ms. Hiya Sharma\nMember: Mr. R. D. Padmakumar\nMember: Mrs. Amba Sanyal\nMember: Mr. Gyanendra Srivastava\nMember: Mrs. Maneesha Kowshik\nMember: Ms. Vaibhavi Kowshik (Director of Programmes)\nPast Members Member: Mrs. Priya Ravish Mehra (Expired)\nTreasurer: Mr. Chaman Sharma (Expired)\nGet in touch Name:\nEmail:\nMessage:\nPlease share more information about:\nResidencies\nProgrammes\nSubmit Form ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"About","type":"homepage-tile"},{"content":" Programmes In addition to our current offerings, we envision expanding our program to include the following initiatives:\nFilm Screenings: Regular screenings of art films and timeless classics for our members, promoting appreciation and understanding of diverse cinematic works.\nArtists’ adda: Discussions facilitating engaging dialogues and forums on various art-related topics, providing a platform for artists to share their perspectives and engage with fellow creatives.\nWorkshops: Organizing classes in Stained Glass, Fused Glass, and enameling on metal techniques, enabling artists to explore and develop new skills.\nTheatre Development Programs: Nurturing theatrical talent through workshops, mentorship, and collaborative projects, promoting the growth and visibility of performing arts within our community.\nInterdisciplinary Innovation and Collaboration Programs: Encouraging cross-disciplinary experimentation and partnerships, ultimately fostering an environment of creativity and exploration to inspire groundbreaking artistic works.\nPast programmes 2023 Workshop Puppet Making Workshop during the Salyana Mela at Andreta, Himachal Pradesh, to revive and promote the mela\u0026rsquo;s narrative with local children. 2022 Workshop Painting Workshop in collaboration with CARENIDHI (Centre for Applied Research and Education on Neurodevelopmental Impairments and Disability-related Health Initiatives), at their Karkardooma HQ.\nThe workshop\u0026rsquo;s participants were children, their parents, siblings and caregivers, who had come for the annual programme on Nurturing Creativity for Child Development.\n2021 Workshop An Art-Therapy Workshop for women and children in Andreta, Himachal Pradesh. 2020 Awareness Programmes ARTS-GLACERHI and Woodlands Society organized an awareness programme about COVID-19 during the pandemic\u0026rsquo;s second wave, focusing on villages near Andreta, Himachal Pradesh.\nKits were distributed to those isolating and in need of medical assistance. We worked with local doctors, medical officers and ASHA workers to ensure involvement of those in need.\n2019 Artists Camp Interactive Camp of Tribal, Folk and Contemporary Artists from the northeast region, Himachal Pradesh and other hill states. Organized in collaboration with Lalit Kala Akademi, and supported by District Commissioner, Chamba. 2019 Exhibition Exhibition of paper pulp artworks by Kirti Chandak at India International Centre, New Delhi. 2019 Exhibition Exhibition titled Contextualizing Progressives – A study of the evolution of Indian Art across regions, at India International Centre, New Delhi. 2019 Exhibition Remembering Dinkar Kowshik, an exhibition to commemorate the birth centenary of Prof. Dinkar Kowshik.\nOrganized with Kala Bhavan Practoni and Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkata, the show featured his teachers, associates and students.\n2018 Exchange Programme Jammu and Kashmir Exchange Immersion Visit, organized as part of an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resources Development.\nFor this student exchange programme, ARTS-GLACERHI was invited by Teach For India to a day of music, dance, poetry, art and crafts for children, as part of their “Arts for Social Change” program.\n2018 Workshop Vitreous Enameling and Flame Working in Glass\nParticipants painted with glass enamel on copper and silver base earrings, pendants, other copper shapes along with enamel plates. These were all then fired at the end of each phase of the workshop. 2018 Workshop Nurturing Creativity for Child Development, a workshop with CARENIDHI (Centre for Applied Research and Education on Neurodevelopmental Impairments and Disability-related Health Initiatives).\nEngaging with childlren, parents, siblings and caregivers, this workshop celebrated two decades of CARENIDHI\u0026rsquo;s initiatives. Self-organizing into groups, participants transformed clay into objects, creatures and stories. These exercises and interactions promoted appreciation of individual uniqueness, through creating, sharing and communicating.\n2018 Festival Organized a Children’s Art Festival with National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. 2017 Exhibition Exhibition of J. Raj Dassani at Allahabad Museum, U.P. 2017 Exhibition Exhibition of the Collection of Late Sushmita Roy Tandan (1953-2013), from the family of Late Dr. Amiya Chandra Chakravarty (1901-1986) and Late Rama Chakravarty (1913-2011) 2017 Exhibition A collaboration with India International Centre, New Delhi, for an exhibition of drawings and paintings tracing the development and evolution of modern art practices.\nOn view were original works by Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Binode Behari Mukherjee, Ram Kinkar Baij, Jamini Roy, Asit Haldar, L.M. Sen and others. The exhibition also showcased select Kalighat paintings.\n2016 Workshop Collaboration with SOS Children\u0026rsquo;s Village, BNHS and Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, for a children\u0026rsquo;s workshop. 2016 Artists Residency Young artists created sunboard and woodcut monoprints, during an artists residency at the Arts Centre, Faridabad. These were later exhiibited at Art Heritage, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi, in a show titled \u0026ldquo;Testimony of Tolerance\u0026rdquo;. 2015 Workshop Restoration and Conservation Workshop at Pearson Palli, Santiniketan, West Bengal with Kala Bhavana students and art enthusiasts. 2014 Residency Exhibition of Paintings following a Residency at the ARTS Centre, Faridabad. 2013 Workshop A //year-long series// of weekly painting workshops at the ARTS Centre, Faridabad, with women and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. 2012 Workshop Enamel Painting Workshop on enameled plates with young artists at the ARTS Centre, Faridabad. 2011 Residency Hosted junior artists at our facility near Suraj Kund (Faridabad, NCR) for multiple residency programmes. These set the stage for expanding ARTS-GLACERHI\u0026rsquo;s focus to the Himalayas, with an emphasis on environment. 2011 Exhibition Ceramic artworks by various Indian artists were showcased, on the initiative of Vijay Kowshik, at the Nook Artists Gallery in Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. 2010 Exhibition 2010 was a milestone year for ARTS-GLACERHI - a major exhibition on the essence of Mahatma Gandhi was curated by Vijay Kowshik in October. The show was very well received, and the then-US Ambassador Timothy Roemer expressed interest in acquiring a sculpture of the Mahatma from the show. This would be for US President Barack Obama, who was due to visit India in a few days, but, however, the piece happened to be not for sale. 2010 Exhibition A contemporary art exhibition at the end of the year was organized and curated by Vijay Kowshik at Defence Gallery, New Delhi. It showcased works by promising young artists from across India and was very well received. 2005-2008 Art Appreciation A multi-year series of Art Appreciation Awareness Programmes. Through lecture sessions and slideshows, the series traced similarities and differences in the evolution of Modern Art in India and the West. 2001-2004 Art Appreciation A multi-year series of Art Appreciation Awareness Programmes. Through lecture sessions and slideshows, the series traced the evolution of Modern Indian Art, at The Nook, Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/programmes/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Programmes","type":"homepage-tile"},{"content":"Our coordinates are:\nEmail: info.artsglacerhi@gmail.com\nGeneral Enquiries: +91 9811471915\nProgramme Enquiries: +91 9582601145\nAlternatively, fill out the form below, and we shall get back to you.\nName:\nEmail:\nMessage:\nPlease share more information about:\nResidencies\nProgrammes\nSubmit Form ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/contact/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Contact","type":"homepage-tile"},{"content":" The Residency\u0026rsquo;s Goal To foster a creative environment where artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines can engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas and inspiration.\nMethodology By facilitating interactions among artists from various fields and countries, we aim to spark innovation, encourage cross-disciplinary collaborations, and cultivate a unique space for artistic expression and growth.\nFacilities Glass Kilns Operational, along with basic finishing tools to cater to various glasswork projects.\nEtching Press A 6\u0026rsquo; x 3\u0026rsquo; etching press is available on-site, allowing artists to explore techniques such as dry point and others.\nPainting We provide easels and canvases, and additional painting supplies can be easily sourced.\nCeramics Two ceramic wheels, clay, and the means to procure other essential ceramic materials.\nBronze Casting A bronze casting furnace is under construction, to enable artists to utilize the lost wax process.\nPapier Mâché A versatile medium that presents an effective form of artistic expression, is available at our facility.\nSculpture Dedicated spaces for carving wood and stone, and for crafting sheet metal sculptures.\nExhibition Upon the Residency\u0026rsquo;s completion, we propose to organize an exhibition at the Centre to showcase the artists’ works. Furthermore, we can curate and arrange additional exhibitions in urban areas like Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh and semi-urban areas like Dharamshala and Palampur, to expand the reach and impact of art produced during the Residency.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/facilities/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Facilities","type":"residencies"},{"content":"Exhibitions\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/exhibitions/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Exhibitions","type":"page"},{"content":" Vision ART GLACERHI\u0026rsquo;s vision is to cultivate a vibrant, inclusive, and collaborative community where artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines can thrive.\nWe are dedicated to creating an environment that nurtures creative expression, fosters cross-disciplinary collaborations, and encourages innovative ideas.\nBy facilitating meaningful interactions among artists from various fields and countries, we strive to inspire artistic growth, promote cultural exchange, and contribute to the enrichment of our society’s cultural landscape.\nVijay Kowshik, General Secretary, ARTS GLACERHI\nMission To establish residencies and conduct workshops, imparting people of the region with training of an international standard, thereby making them competent, strengthening development, and boosting awareness for the arts in the region. To establish environmental alleviation by evolving, developing and skilling the unemployed and women in the field of the arts \u0026amp; crafts. To make trainees self-reliant and develop their entrepreneurial skills in order to evolve a better environment and international competence. Our focus lenses therefore are:\nArt and aesthetics awareness Environment alleviation Skill development Tourism, art and cultural development Socio-economic development Objectives To create and stimulate awareness among the public for creative springs of unrecognized talents, as well as known experienced and skilled artists and crafts persons in the field of Glass, Ceramics and Handicrafts.\nTo conserve, revive and promote the arts and crafts with a special emphasis on their continuation in the present and the future.\nTo encourage and promote art, artists, crafts, with a special emphasis on artists and crafts persons of caliber and potential in the creative visual arts and performing arts that are as yet less projected.\nTo act as a pressure group by arousing public opinion when any part of cultural or natural heritage is threatened with imminent danger of damage or destruction, arising out of private or public policy or in any other manner.\nTo promote preservation of traditional arts and crafts and to ensure their authenticity and identity.\nTo create a system of authentication and certification or original works of art.\nTo act as a culture bank for providing financial, technical and intellectual assistance towards the preservation of cultural and natural resources and heritage as also of creative and innovative activities.\nTo collect, house, preserve, display and exhibit collections of art objects and archival materials, and make them available for scientific and historical research.\nTo promote study of art, culture, art history and archaeology.\nTo maintain a library of books, manuscripts, prints, photographs, catalogues etc. for study and research.\n","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/vision-mission-objectives/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Vision","type":"page"},{"content":"The ARTS Residency \u0026lsquo;24, hosted at the ARTS STUDIO in Andreta, Himachal Pradesh, invites passionate artists worldwide to apply for an immersive experience at the heart of India\u0026rsquo;s breathtaking natural landscape.\nOur mission is to ignite a creative spark among glass artists and sculptors, encouraging them to engage with visual and ecological consciousness as we navigate a world facing environmental challenges.\nThe residency offers a unique space for artists to explore their craft while reconnecting with nature and rethinking the role of art in promoting sustainability. We welcome established artists from around the globe to join our diverse community of creatives in fostering an open dialogue about pressing environmental issues.\nBy participating in this program, artists will have the opportunity to engage in critical inquiry and reflective practices while developing innovative approaches to their art in response to the natural surroundings.\nThrough this initiative, we aim to build a network of international and national artists committed to addressing environmental concerns and promoting creative solutions that support sustainability.\nJoin us at the ARTS Residency in Andretta for an enriching experience filled with artistic growth, collaborative learning, and inspiring exchanges that have the potential to transform our relationship with the natural world and mutual understanding. The residency participants will create artworks that will be showcased at the end of the residency.\nObjectives Cultivate Eco-consciousness Promote Innovation in the Arts Engage with Local Context Program Structure The three week residency will provide selected artists with studio space.\nFollow this link for more details about the Facilities. Arrangements for travel from home country, accommodation and food in Andretta will be borne by the artists/sponsors. We would bill artists for materials used during the residency period. Apply by 31st May 2024 Open to accomplished glass artists and sculptors from around the world, interested in exploring ecological themes.\nApplication Process Applicants should submit a link to their portfolio, along with a Statement of Intent, by filling out this form. A committee appointed by ARTS GLACERHI will select two outstanding artists. Location: ARTS Glass Studio, Andretta, Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, INDIA\nDuration: 3 weeks.\nFor any queries, write to us at info.artsglacerhi@gmail.com Banner image credit: Shubham Mansingka ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/open-call-24/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Open Call '24","type":"residencies"},{"content":" One Day Workshop, as part of NGMA New Delhi\u0026rsquo;s Children’s Art Festival. We worked with children on creating a storyline with paint and long pieces of cloth, where we drew attention to the rising smog in the city. We discussed the burden that smog has become for the city\u0026rsquo;s tree, and imagined what they would do if they could move.\nChildren felt that trees and people who love them would run away from the smog, and a slogan was co-created by workshop participants. Once painting and discussion were done, two big masks were created, and a procession of children, their parents and some passersby circled the India Gate hexagon, chanting \u0026ldquo;bhaago bhaago smog aaya!\u0026rdquo;\nPhotography by Anjali Seetha\nThe day ended with greater awareness amongst participating children and their parents about the impact of pollution on the environment and on their everyday lives.\n","date":"19 November 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/bhaago_bhaago_smog_aaya-workshop_with_ngma/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Bhaago Bhaago Smog Aaya – Workshop with NGMA New Delhi","type":"workshops"},{"content":"Timing it for just before India\u0026rsquo;s Independence Day, we conducted a two-day Vitreous Enameling Workshop at the ARTS Centre near Surajkund, Faridabad (Delhi NCR).\ns Four talented upcoming artists, Jitu, Parul, Rajesh and Vishwajeet, were chosen following an Open Call, and participated in the workshop.\nPrevious Next ","date":"14 August 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/vitreous_enameling_workshop/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Vitreous Enameling Workshop","type":"workshops"},{"content":"ARTS-GLACERHI was invited by Dr. Sunanda Reddy, founder of CARE-NIDHI (Centre for Applied Research and Education on Neurodevelopmental Impairments and Disability-related Health Initiatives), to conduct a workshop with children, parents, siblings and caregivers celebrating 20 years of their collective journey working together.\nThe workshop\u0026rsquo;s focus was Nurturing Creativity for Child Development. We created stories in clay, through objects and living beings. The objective behind the group activities was to create and share, drawing on the perspective that each individual is unique.\nPhotos by Nehmat Mongia and CARE-NIDHI ARTS-GLACERHI team:\nVijay Kowshik, Santosh and Vaibhavi Kowshik.\n","date":"4 March 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/carenidhi_on_nurturing_creativity_for_child_development/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Nurturing Creativity for Child Development - CARENIDHI Workshop","type":"workshops"},{"content":"ARTS-GLACERHI was invited to a day of music, dance, poetry, art and crafts, organized by Slam Out Loud, Simple Education Foundation, Alohomora Education Foundation and Teach for India under the banner of Arts for Social CHange India.\nThe focus was the Ministry of Human Resource Development\u0026rsquo;s Jammu and Kashmir Exchange Immersion Visit, as part of which a large number of school children were visiting the national capital. A large group from the contingent was hosted at National Bal Bhavan.\n","date":"22 January 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/storytelling_with_papier-mache/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"ARTS for social change – Storytelling with Papier-mâché","type":"workshops"},{"content":"abcd Previous Next ","date":"2 September 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/nature_and_art_workshop/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Nature and Art Workshops with SOS Children's Village","type":"workshops"},{"content":"Kiln Making Workshop at IIT Delhi s ","date":"25 June 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/kiln_making_at_iit/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Kiln Making Workshop at IIT Delhi","type":"workshops"},{"content":" Originally published in South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (May 2007) - read here. Dinkar Kowshik writes\n\u0026ldquo;Master-mashai, as Nandalal Bose was fondly known, remains with us as a legend. His respect for nature was as profound as his reverence for the classics. Today he comes back to us as a living presence through his great achievement in art.\u0026rdquo;\nNandalal preferred to speak with forms. He wrote letters in sketches, he greeted with pictures, he blessed with drawings. Visual form was his life-breath.\nNandlal appears like a culmination and fruition of an era. In him we witness the simplicity of an Indian peasant, the authenticity of an idealist and an enlightened patriot of the Gandhian school. His work shed the romantic verbiage and illustrative trappings of his contemporaries and developed along a definite path of formal synthesis. His swadeshi fervour did not make him illustrate the episodes of the national movement as visual reportage. He always forced the story to crystallise in a design almost like a unit form and there he expended his best talents of calligraphy and colour purely in terms of the aesthetics of vision. His swadeshi spirit was genuine, born of the soil. His respect for local material was real. Handmade paper, earth colours and handmade brushes were an outcome of his sense of sturdy self-reliance. He laughed at the consignments of British paper and colours. In truth, Nandlal, in his response to Gandhi Ji’s call, had made a serious heart-searching and had reached back to the original current of Indian tradition.\nNandlal’s early work in wash was extremely competent. It was delicate and yet sturdily constructed. He accepted the technique as was exemplified by Acharya Abanindranath Tagore. But he relied more on the structural emphasis than on the atmospheric ethereality. His line had a sinuous musculature and the colour tended towards symbolism. Visual play of light and shade did not in the least engage his interest. His study of Ajanta brought him face to face with a robust phase of realism. He at once recognised in those murals as archetype of Indian womanhood. The Ajanta woman is heavy – \u0026ldquo;like a mango tree laden with fruit.\u0026rdquo; Her skin has the glow and lustre of a Lodhra flower. Her lower lip is heavy, sensuous, like a Bimba fruit. Her glances are like \u0026ldquo;lightning\u0026rdquo;. She is, in sum, \u0026ldquo;desire\u0026rdquo; personified. Ajanta has used areas of dark colour and light colour and never attempted surface light and shade. Nandalal built his art on such sound foundations. His competence in wash painting never let him run away with the passing, evanescent effects of sunset glows or aging human beings in the dusk. The romanticism of Arabian Nights or Omar Khayyam series of Abanindranath gave Nandalal a starting point for his fresh experiments. He squarely based his efforts on the definite technique of tempera. He worked his own style enriched by his intimate experience of Ajanta, Jain, Rajput and Mughal art. His respect for his craft and profession was profound. This led him to accept the message of swadeshi in its practical aspect.\nThus we see Nandalal, a leading citizen of folk aristocracy. Khadi to him was not a mere coarse cloth made out of hand-spun yarn. To him it had infinite variations of textures born of human sensibility. Khadi was an aesthetic equivalent of our will to work and our homage to the hands. The very feel of moderately twisted yarn, woven on a simple loom, had a tactile quality. The weight, feel, colour and texture of Khadi attained infinite gradations and richness. All these qualities belonged to the parlance of art criticism. He therefore accepted Khadi on aesthetic premises. Similarly he was extremely keen in his perception of handmade utensils, handmade toys and other household objects.\nNandalal preferred to speak with forms. He wrote letters in sketches, he greeted with pictures, he blessed with drawings. Visual form was his life-breath.\nHe always paid tribute to the village potter and village artisan who fashioned his wares with simple tools. His respect for the noble dignity of handmade work has a spiritual significance. Simple shapes arrived at intuitively by the master-craftsmen attracted his unerring eye. A metal-ware, a toy, or a potter’s bowl made him pause admiringly. Again, his absorbing interest in the folk arts of India was not just a matter of urban fashion with him. His folk aristocracy made him conscious of this rich treasure of the soil. He recognised that in such folk art pieces, daring calligraphy was matched by a joyous abandon to colour. Time and again he would refer to the urban greys and the fear of variegation in city life. He had observed that rural areas of India were adventurous in the use of colour on person, in textiles, in toys and in paintings. He knew that colour was an expression of our deepest springs of the unconscious. Colour was like music, born of the inmost promptings of the élan. He had noticed the jarring notes of discord imported in our cities due to a confused state of industrial revolution. Tin cans, bill boards, film posters, neon signs and the badly designed glare of advertisements had invaded the visual sanitation of our civilised life. He clearly saw that only serious art, which harnessed the vitality of folk art and rural simplicity, could stand against the general rot.\nHis catholicity in art permitted him to see aesthetic excellence in the Far Eastern as well as in the art of the Middle East. He was able to enjoy the subtlety of design and vitality of form in the primitive art forms of Black African and Polynesian art. He could also recognise the awesome strength of Aztec and Peruvian art. He however eschewed the optical illusionism of academic European art. On account of his initial reluctance, he kept away from European contemporary movements. He was sensitive to the strength of Matisse’s colour or Picasso’s formal distortions. His natural reflex was to recoil from their violence and lack of spiritual detachment. His refined eastern taste kept aloof from the flesh as depicted in Western art. This intrusion of matter in the realms of art was too jarring for his palette. Nandalal had his reservations about an art which was launched on its career as an imitation of visual reality. He firmly denied this. To him art was an essence, a distillation of reality. Reality as seen by the artist’s eye had to pass the fiery gates of imaginative vision. Flesh had to lose its sordid grossness and attain a state of plastic energy. He compared Rubens and Konarak to illustrate his stand. The mighty voluptuous nudes of Rubens bring to us a dynamic reality of the flesh. Young, heavy-bosomed women caught in the web of normal human passions are painted to vivify the artist’s vision. The effort is a make-believe. The perspective, light and shade, anatomy and psychology are thrown in the battle to establish suzerainty of the visual, palpable world. The Konarak erotic group stands at the other end of the pole. Here there is no make-believe. The figures locked in love-play appear as centres of energy. Limbs in their rounded affluence do not remind one of particular individual lovers. They are distillations of our total experience of union. The erotic display stands before our eyes as an empathetic transformation. Nandalal ignored the later developments of European art. The towering achievements of Matisse, Picasso, Braque, Klee, Miro, Mondrian, Brancusi and others did not find favour with him. He did not make any serious effort to change his orientation. He remained stubbornly faithful to his original classical aesthetic verities of Satyam Shivam Sundaram. His Satyam was conditioned by his faith in rural culture. He therefore retreated into his shell and disowned anything that originated in the changing milieu of an industrial machine age.\nAesthetic Nandalal stands as a counterpart of Political Gandhi. He delivered us from slavery in art expression. It is indeed an irony of fate that we are at present under the tutelage of Europe and America, because of our indiscriminate squandering of debts.\nMaster-mashai, now remains with us as a legend. Those who were privileged to be his students, recall his personality with affection and respect bordering on hero-worship. He was undoubtedly the gentle hero of the aesthetic land. He was a man of few words, but those few words were mined out of the rich quarries of his deeply sensitive mind. His respect for nature was as profound as his reverence for the classics. Today he comes back to us as a living presence through his great achievement in art.\nKala Bhavan has a rare collection of original sketches drawn by Nandalal Bose during his active life as an artist. Most of these were sent to his Master – Abanindranath Tagore. They are therefore doubly significant. As was his habit, Nandalal preferred to speak with forms. He wrote letters in sketches, he greeted with pictures, he blessed with drawings. Visual form was his life-breath – his innermost sensibilities quickened with any visual presence. He is most daring, original, experimental, dramatic, humorous and incisive in his sketches. Here we find his alert searching eye, capturing moving spectacle of living form. A growing tree, moving figures, frisking animals, birds on wings, rustling grass, sailing boats are firmly netted in a visual parallel. Until his death, he kept his moving hand on a constant trail of form. He sketched with a master’s hand and with a student’s eye. His mind bears witness to both – hand and eye – as the watchful Vedic bird.\nAbout the author Dinkar Kowshik\nb. 1918, Dharwar, India\nEducation\nUniversity of Bombay, 1938\nFine Arts, Santiniketan, 1941-46\nBelle Arts Roma, 1955-56\nCareer\nFaculty Delhi Polytechnic \u0026amp; then College of Arts Delhi, 1949-64\nProfessor \u0026amp; Principal, College of Arts, Lucknow, 1964-67\nProfessor \u0026amp; Principal, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, 1967-78\nPublications with translations in various languages\nAge and Image (1960)\nNandalal Bose (1985)\nBlossoms of Light (1986)\nAkura Kakuzo (1988)\nOkakura\nand many other articles and booklets on Rabindranath Tagore and others.\nInstrumental in the formation of the following institutions\nDelhi Shilpi Chakra, Delhi\nTriveni Kala Sangam, Delhi\nARTS-GLACERHI, Delhi\nDelhi Polytechnic\u0026rsquo;s metamorphosis into College of Arts\nPresent Address\nPearson Pally, Santiniketan, West Bengal - 731235, India\nOriginally published in South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (May 2007) - read here. ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/dinkar_kowshik_on_nandalal_bose/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Nandalal Bose, a Leading Citizen of Folk Aristocracy","type":"articles"},{"content":" Originally published in The South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (April 2003) - read here. Vijay Kowshik writes\n\u0026ldquo;Bhabesh Chandra Sanyal, known lovingly as Baba Sanyal, passed on in January this year. He was 101 and the senior-most contemporary artist of India who had been involved in the evolution of the Indian art scene from the early twentieth century to the present twenty first century.\nHis contribution in the field of visual art and its promotion, nurturing and encouragement was phenomenal. His passionate involvement, spirit of search and perseverant thrust towards widening the outlook and attitude to the arts, his in-depth understanding of the life and times of the century and his own self understanding was also immense.\nBorn in Assam at Dibrugarh on the 22nd April 1902, B.C. Sanyal was, and is still lovingly called Bhabeshda by his colleagues and Sanyal Saab by his students. Anyone who met him felt inadvertently drawn to his humane persona.\nAfter studying under Percy Brown and J.P. Ganguly at the Government College of Arts, Calcuttta, he came out and went to various places in India looking, observing and absorbing the environment, trying to see where he would ultimately like to settle down.\nA Woman by BC Sanyal\nIn 1929, he happened to go to Lahore to do a statue of Lala Lajpat Rai at the AICC session and thought the place was interesting and decided to try and stay on. He offered to make a portrait of Lionel Heath, the then Principal of Mayo School of Arts, Lahore. Heath was impressed by his work, his sincerity and perseverance, and appointed him at the College. He taught at the school from 1929 to 1936. In 1936 Bhabesh Da, a handsome and jovial young man (at the time) left the school as the principal’s daughter fell in love with him and this was creating much complications. This is the time when he founded the Lahore School of Fine Arts, a studio-cum-teaching workshop for experiments in informal art education. The studio was set up initially at the premises of the former Christian College, at the invitation of its first Indian principal, Dr. S.K. Dutta. Later it was formally inaugurated in a basement at the Dayal Singh Mansions with an exhibition which included works from artists who were at Lahore during the period, like A.R. Chugtai, Alla Bux, Roop and Mary Krishna, Hall Bevan Petman, A. Hallet, Ram Lal, Siriniwas and B.P. Singlu, apart from his own.\nDue to difficulties in keeping the venues because of tenancy problems, the School had to shift a number of times. For some time the School was at the premises of the Punjab Literary League’s club house. This became an extremely lively place with interactions between the creative fields of literature and fine arts. The school in 1938-39 shifted from the clubhouse to the BallRoom of the Regal Cinema building on the Mall. This was a big and central place and Sanyal’s studio bloomed here with a lot of interdisciplinary interactions of the creatives of the time. There were meetings of the progressive writers and discussions attended by A.S. Bukhari, Sajjad Zuheer and Khwaja Ahmed Abbas. There were talks by luminaries like O.C. Ganguly (on Indian miniatures), Rajani Palme Dutt (on Shakespeare), Uday Shankar, Ram Gopal and Hafeez Jallundhari among others who graced the studio. During the last few years at Lahore, Bhabesh Chandra Sanyal was elected as the Secretary of the Punjab Fine Arts Society.\nDuring the country’s Partition, Sanyal with his wife Snehlata and tiny daughter Amba migrated to Delhi. This was a very testing time for him and his family and they overcame the trauma of displacement and started life afresh. He gelled well with the group of artists at Delhi at the time. They were members of the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society but as it was being run like a fiefdom, Sanyal with a number of artists walked out, and the first meeting of the new group being formed took place at the Jantar Mantar grounds. The participants were B.C. Sanyal, Dinkar Kowshik and K.S. Kulkarni. Many subsequent meetings took place at Kowshik’s house at Allenby road where he used to stay at the time and which was very central near Connaught place. It was decided that they would get more artists involved and form a society. The Delhi Silpi Chakra was thus born and the name coined by Kowshik who apart from being an artist from Santinketan, was a graduate in English from Poona and knew Sanskrit. The others who came into the folds were Kanwal Krishna, Shankar Pillai, Jaya Appasamy, K.C. Aryan, Ram Kumar, Dhanraj Bhagat and P.N. Mago, among others.\nB.C. Sanyal had the qualities of a good leader among the artists and the Delhi artists gelled well with him. It was a completely new art scene developing at Delhi and the country for that matter at that time. ‘Silpi Chakra’ as the society was commonly known, started having regular exhibitions, discussions, talks and invigorating interactions between creative art fields of visual arts, literature and music. With the sympathetic collaboration under Sanyal’s persuasion, Ram Babu of M/s Dhoomimal Dharamdas at Connaught Place started the first commercial art gallery of Delhi. Later the Silpi Chakra got its own premises at the Shankar market at Cannought place which had just come up then.\nBhabesh Sanyal took over as the head of the Art Department at Delhi Polytechnic (1953-1960), and the Department made a great headway. Later as the Secretary of the Lalit Kala Akademi (1960-69) he brought in great changes and endeavoured to enrich the activities of the Akademi and touched the lives of artists all over the country.\nTree at Andretta by BC Sanyal\nHis love of the mountains took him to the valleys of Himachal and he initiated and formed the ‘Woodland Society’ for artists at Andretta on the land given by Nora Richard for the purpose.\nPortrait of his daughter Amba, by BC Sanyal\nI remember every once in a while my father Dinkar Kowshik, taking our family to his house at Nizamuddin(east) and in my child’s eyes he was like my father’s older brother and his daughter Amba was the most beautiful girl in the world and I was so proud she was like my elder sister. His wife Sneh di was a confident young lady who had deep interest in theatre and had very clear opinions on most issues. His studio at Gole Market was to a great degree instrumental in nurturing artistic activity in Delhi after 1947, many a now- famous artists bloomed through that studio. There was a very beautiful portrait of Amba, which Baba Sanyal had made and which is reproduced here among some other virile works of his.\nSanyal\u0026rsquo;s portrait in glass, by Vijay Kowshik\nThis veteran artist’s major qualities were, his strength of character, honesty, perseverance and his wit and humour. These were the main tenets of his humane nature and his leadership qualities because of which people from all echelons were attracted to and looked up to him. His works portray the same qualities of strength and sensitivity. They have the spiritual strength of a person who in spite of the tensions of the inner self and the external forces has a clear mind and a direction. In his works there is a unity of painting and drawing. It has an organically flowing foreground and the elements in the background bind together. The way he deals with forms, space, colour and light strikes me like lightning - differently vibrant each and every time. His works may also be described as ‘relational’ because it establishes a strong relationship with the characters and feelings of people and the context. The canvas and the paint were but an instrument in his deft and precise fingers for his research into the nature of being.\nEven after going through a century in time, Baba Sanyal kept his youth and the attitudes to match. His mind was agile and he was interested in any new development taking place. For example when the various techniques of working in glass were explained to him in his 100th year, he had a keen desire to work in glass and do compositions in the medium. He had the uncanny quality of finding humour in any situation and liked to interact after having his own private space for himself in his mind where he continuously introspected.\nStudy of a crow by BS Sanyal Study of a cat by BS Sanyal He had a cultured wit and a civilized humour, which was mild, but deep and profound. His landscapes, a lot of which were done in the Dhauladhar and Shivalik ranges in Himachal, have the dreamlike quality which his subconscious must have perceived but still they are connected to the conscious with regard to being intelligible. The spontaneity and strength of his strokes are vibrantly depicted in his studies of birds and animals specially the virile cat and the alert black crow done by him. His sculptures are also a pleasure to experience and confirm the fact that his enduring spirit is always young, fresh and reaching out. It has no relationship to the physical years. This spirit of his had touched many a heart and minds who carry forward the flame which has its origins in the depths of Baba Sanyal’s heart.\nOriginally published in The South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (April 2003) - read here. ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/vijay_kowshik_on_remembering_baba_sanyal/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Remembering Baba Sanyal - A Journey From Lahore To Delhi","type":"articles"},{"content":" Originally published in The South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (August 2000) - read here. Vijay Kowshik writes\nIn the eight decades of its existence, the Art School at Shantiniketan\u0026rsquo;s Visva Bharati University has been synonymous with giants of Indian modern art. Founded by Rabindranath Tagore, and nurtured by the artistic greats - Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Binodebihari Mukherji - the Art School became the University\u0026rsquo;s most notable department.\nK.G. Subramanyan, Somenath Hore and Dinkar Kowshik all live there, their canvasses still flowing with creative energies.\nThe Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan [Abode of Peace] was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 - as a spiritual and intellectual haven - a catalyst for the synthesis of Asian and western thought, \u0026ldquo;… a conduit between Asia\u0026rsquo;s past and present, so that the ancient learning might be rejuvenated through contact with modern thinking.\u0026rdquo;\nThe origins and association with Shantiniketan go back over a hundred years. It was in 1863 that Rabindranath\u0026rsquo;s father Debendranath Tagore, on one of his journeys, stopped at Shantiniketan [near Bolpur], about a hundred miles north-west of Calcutta, to meditate under one of the few trees that existed there at the time. The area was desolate, barren, and denuded. Debendranath was charmed by the solitude and the aloofness of the place and bought it - as a retreat for his family. Over the years, soil and plants were transported and thus began the greening of Shantiniketan. In 1901, Rabindranath, at the age of forty, decided to make Shantiniketan his home and at first founded a school there, and twenty years later - a University - The Visva Bharati University.\nThe idea of Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan was far ahead of its time. \u0026ldquo;I have it in mind to make Shantiniketan the connecting thread between India and the world…The days of petty nationalism are numbered - let the first step towards universal union occur in the fields of Bolpur. I want to make that place somewhere beyond the limits of nature and geography\u0026rdquo; - Rabindranath had articulated. At the time it began functioning in 1921, it was dismissed by some as an idealist\u0026rsquo;s dream. Rabindranath, nevertheless, pursued and set up three departments - Art, Music and Indology - which attracted indigenous talent and Orientalists from Europe and the Far East. From the time he won the Nobel Prize in 1913 until his death in 1941, many distinguished scholars, artists, and writers from the world over visited Rabindranath at Shantiniketan. Ramsay MacDonald, Kakuzo Okakura, Wilmot Perera, Moritz Winternitz, Sylvain Levi were some of the visitors to Shantiniketan.\nNandalal Bose who had studied under Abanindranath Tagore, founder of the Bengal School of Art, first headed the Art School, or \u0026lsquo;Kala Bhavan\u0026rsquo;, as it is known. [Abanindranath was the son of Rabindranath\u0026rsquo;s older brother].\nAbanindranath was instrumental in the start of the contemporary art movement in India. The political environment in India, in the early decades of the twentieth century, was charged with a nationalist spirit. The question of the time was whether to revive old art forms of the glorious past or to adopt the western techniques with the sparkle of the modern European mind, and the spectacular achievements of the west. Abanindranath was the one person who could overcome this dilemma and firmly develop his personal style. He confidently discarded the revivalist ideal but absorbed the implications of the Indian art traditions. In his personal style he easily assimilated the techniques acquired from his British and Italian teachers and he also set up an art school. One of his most gifted pupils was Nandalal Bose (1882 - 1966).\nRabindranath asked Nandalal Bose to build and head the art department at Shantiniketan in 1921. Nandalal believed in exploring the uniqueness of the Indian genius as revealed in the long tradition of Indian art. It was his firm conviction that an Indian artist must learn an authentic language, which is in harmony, and is compatible with his spirit, in order to respond to the emerging new era of art. The tension and warmth that saturated his works were a reflection of a conscious, creative personality engaged in the rigorous endeavor to evolve and project an image of Indian modernity. In a write-up on Nandalal, Rabindranath observed:\n\u0026ldquo;Nandalal, I know, could not submit to … paralyzing effect of a personal manner in his progress to self-expression through art. I have long noticed a trait of self-rebellion in him. The creative power everywhere has need of this self revolt… Nandalal was urged by this continual restlessness of vitality in his creative work … His brush is ever directed to a journey beyond his own past achievement. That is truly the way to universality of creation, and endless is the road that lies ahead.\u0026rdquo;\nNandalal’s mental makeup was in complete resonance with Rabindranath’s attitude. Nandalal never adhered to any particular technique or medium and continually vented his creative urge in diverse forms. Nor did he influence upon any of his students or interfere with their personal development. He also believed that an artist could not be created. A teacher of art could only assist a student-artist’s self-development. This freedom and an absence of academic rigidity certainly contributed to the emergence of talent with distinct individuality.\nShantiniketan was evolving and the interactions with various personalities who visited the place were helping in the evolution. The interactions with the Japanese master Kakuzo Okakura were a major force in this evolution. The creativity at Kala Bhavan remained charged and strengthened with the arrival of talented and gifted teachers. In the mid 1920s, two great minds, Binodebihari Mukherjee and Ram Kinkar Baij joined the Art School.\nBinodebihari (1904 - 1980) joined Shantiniketan as a student in 1917 and as faculty in 1925. Originally from Behala, a small town in Bengal, he was the most brilliant student of Nandalal and had a strong identity of his own. His style of teaching was to enhance and encourage the strengths of individual students, nurturing the development of their own vocabulary. He has created great works of art in the tempera medium, though his works in other medium are no less commendable. His analysis and overview of the principles of beauty in art is very important, straightforward and devoid of uncertainty and ambiguity. His works are highly sensitive, with an inner strength of character and sincerity. They have a sense of congruence to his feelings and experiencing them brings one close to the qualities of his self. Despite his partial visual handicap, Binodebihari rose to be acknowledged as one of India\u0026rsquo;s finest painters. Satyajit Ray, the renowned filmmaker, had studied under Binodebihari [1940-42], and in 1972 made a film about him - \u0026lsquo;The Inner Eye\u0026rsquo;.\nRamkinkar (1910 -1980) also joined as faculty in 1925. Coming from the small town of Bankura, Ramkinker was brought to Shantiniketan because of his genius and the spark in him. He also became one with the place. Ramkinkar had the grit to maintain his inherited identity while creating the essentials of the new environment. While a relentless effort was on to develop an Indian idiom that could relate to its traditional forms, Ramkinkar sought his own direction without bothering about past traditions, though having his roots intact. His was a very personal style, which had so much to offer to posterity. He studied life around him, introducing a bold and virile realism. His works (sculptures, paintings and graphics) are characteristic of strength of form, lines and virility of thought. They give a feeling of tremendous energy and exuberance and are strongly vital, reaching out for the light.\nA fascinating aspect at Shantiniketan was the close relationship between the faculty and the students. Binode da and Kinker da, as they were lovingly addressed, were major moulders of the contemporary art scene in India. They have very major works to their credit, which have become the heritage treasures of the country. They were also instrumental in the subsequent development of their students. Among their students, Sankho Chaudhuri and K.G Subramanyan developed the Baroda school of art; Dinkar Kowshik and Jaya Appasamy developed the Delhi school of art. Jaya Appasamy, after studying art at Shantiniketan, studied at Peking and Oberlin college USA. She was the editor of the publications of Lalit Kala Akademi and also authored various books. She was known as a serious art critic. Krishna Reddy, who has a hand in the development of the Graphics Department at the New York University, was also a student at Shantiniketan during this time.\nThere was a period of stillness when Nandalal left Kala Bhavan. Nandalal, who was lovingly known as Master Moshai, was incapacitated during his final years; Binode da and Kinker da were disillusioned with the institution, which had been taken over by the Government a few years after Rabindranath passed away, though they kept up their intensity of work.\nIt was in 1967 that the quietude pervading the Kala Bhavan received a fresh and a positive stimulus. Dinkar Kowshik, who had been taught by Binodebihari and Kinker, took over as principal. He brought back into the curriculum the original philosophy on which the institution was created. This was the time when both Binode da and Kinker da came into their elements again - and he got some of the great minds in art to move to Shantiniketan. Somenath Hore, K.G Subramanyan, Sharbari Rai Choudhuri and others came to the institution to give it a new life and the original creative edge.\nAt the turn of the century, some of these Greats still reside and work in Shantiniketan. K.G Subramanyan (born 1924) is a painter experimenting continuously in various media. His works are sensitive, satirical, full of wit and have a strong individuality. He is an emeritus professor at Shantiniketan.\nDinkar Kowshik (born 1918), working with a deep intensity, is quiet and unassuming. His works are extremely sensitive and have a sense of character. The recent works convey feelings of joy, playfulness and calm. There was a period when his works conveyed severe tensions, though with an inner tranquility. With his conviction and grit he was able to bring Kala Bhavan out of its low period and the present group together. He is also a voracious writer and has a number of books to his credit.\nSomenath Hore (born 1921) is an accomplished graphic artist turned sculptor. An extremely intense artist, his sculptures are moving and transmit his empathy to pain, poverty, hunger and grief - conveying a sense of shame and surprise towards the state of things.\nSitting in the ashram (Campus) of Kala Bhavan one can feel the creative energies flowing around and the deep and sincere interest of the students and teachers mingling in the interactions. Shantiniketan remains among the foremost institutions for creative art.\nOriginally published in The South Asian Life \u0026amp; Times (SALT) (August 2000) - read here. ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/vijay_kowshik_on_shantiniketan_and_the_origin_of_modern_art_in_india/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"On Shantiniketan and the Origin of Modern Art in India","type":"articles"},{"content":" Artists Resurgence Thrust Society for Glass, Ceramics and Handicrafts of India is a registered non-profit organization devoted to art and culture in an interdisciplinary environment, exempt under Section 80G of Income Tax Act, 1961.\nARTS-GLACERHI works to create this environment through experimentation and exploration that encourage non-linear ways of thinking. The organization was initiated in 2001. About Programmes Contact ","date":"3 August 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"ARTS-GLACERHI","type":"page"},{"content":"ARTS-GLACERHI organized an Art Workshop for artists from several Indian hill states (Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Manipur, Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh). Held 23rd July to 3rd August 2019 in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, it was executed in collaboration with the Lalit Kala Akademi, Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The Government of Himachal Pradesh was also an important partner for the workshop, through the good offices of District Commissioner, Chamba.\nThe Art Workshop conducted amidst festivities and celebrations of the region\u0026rsquo;s famous Minjar Mela. The workshop was held at Chamba\u0026rsquo;s Bhuri Singh Museum, an institution renowned for its rare collection of Pahadi miniatures paintings. These treasures were amongst the sources of inspiration for the workshop\u0026rsquo;s attendees.\nSeveral participants, especially those whose home state is Himachal Pradesh, drew upon the miniature style of the region.\nPrevious Next Others continued their practice in wood and terracotta. Each attendee\u0026rsquo;s artistic creation presented an evolution of the essence of their home state. A larger experience of India\u0026rsquo;s Hill states emerged by the end of the workshop. The works were presented in the final show, creating an enriching experience for the general public as well as participating artists.\nPrevious Next ","date":"3 August 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/art-camps/","section":"ARTS-GLACERHI","summary":"","title":"Chamba Art Camp, 2019","type":"art-camp"},{"content":"","date":"19 November 2018","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/workshops/","section":"Workshops","summary":"","title":"Workshops","type":"workshops"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/articles/","section":"Articles","summary":"","title":"Articles","type":"articles"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"}]