Sixteen prominent artists from across the country congregated in Dhanbad to add colour to the otherwise gloomy scene sketched by the pandemic. The artists will be participating in the two-day national art camp-cum-workshop organized by Dhanbad based art and literature promotion organization, India Telling. The art extravaganza is part of the annual Dhanbad Art Fair that is put up by India Telling under the leadership of its founder Abhishek Kashyap since 2019.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of the workshop on the inaugural day, Dhanbad-based national award winning artist, Samiksha (28) said “Most of my paintings are inspired by women and highlight issues related to restrictions imposed on women in the name of tradition and patriarchy.”

The national art camp-cum-workshop in progress. Gautam Dey

Samiksha, a post-graduate in Fine Arts Kala Bhavana, Vishva Bharti, Shanti Niketan,said, “I, as an artist, feel the need to highlight issues that affect our society so that we can mull over the issues and find a solution.”

She further added that during the pandemic, she started using her artwork to depict loneliness, job loss, depression, negativity, orphans and other issues that the society faced during the second wave.

Adding to that, Kishore Kumar, a Delhi-based artist, participating in the workshop, said “The present generation is focussing on art and culture as parents are more liberal with them making a career in this sector.”

“We appeal to the government and art lovers to set up more art galleries, museums, exhibition centers where art camps and workshops can be organised like this one,” said Kumar.

Abhishek Kashyap, curator of the art camp said, “Since we are not allowed to organise exhibitions during the pandemic, we chose to organise this camp-cum-workshop to promote art and culture.”