Out of the familiar confines of their atelier, 11 Indian artists joined nine artists from the ASEAN countries and created a spectacular display stimulated by the verdant Aravalli hills and the bounty of Udaipur. With Taj Aravali Resort and Spa playing host to the second edition of ASEAN-India Artists’ Camp organised by Seher in association with the Ministry of External Affairs, the underlining theme of the camp, Oceans of Creativity, streamlined their thoughts. With abstracts and vivid forms to multi-media and inclusion of unique elements, the 20-odd paintings in display at the end of the nine-day camp (October 11-19), saw a unique synthesis and synergy that brought the artists closer and also strengthened the bonds of the nations.
The participating artists included Somreth Keo from Cambodia, Eddy Sulistyo from Indonesia, Melissa Abuga-a from the Philippines, Aye Myat Soe from Myanmar, Nabil Fikri Bin Haronli from Brunei Darussalam, Sone Khounpaseuth from Lao PDR, Edroger Rosili from Malaysia, Nguyen Phuong Linh from Vietnam and Phattaraporn Leanpanit from Thailand.
The Indian contingent included Sonika Agarwal, Japani Shyam, Nupur Kundu, Laishram Meena Devi, Anjum Khan, Nin Taneja, Vanita Gupta, Yogendra Tripathi, Mayur Kailash Gupta, Dileep Dharma and Basant Bhargav.
The camp that celebrated 30 years of India-ASEAN partnership saw the artists indulge in interactive sessions, yoga, witness various cultural events including Odissi and Kathak recital by exponents. Art writer Anuradha Ghosh undertook a panel discussion on ‘Jamini Roy: Translating the folk’, and Indian painter Shan Bhatnagar took artists on a journey through the history of Shrinathji of Nathdwara. In the lecture series, a promising Sattriya dancer Anwesa Mahanta talked about Northeast Indian dance and music traditions and eminent Kathak and Odissi dancer Parwati Dutta discussed classical dance and music traditions. Artists also enjoyed a music performance by Dhruv Visvanath — India’s premier solo percussive acoustic guitarist. The camp was also joined by mentor Samindranath Majumdar to work with the artists on their journey through the camp.
The minister of state, Ministry of External Affairs, Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, was the chief guest for the closing ceremony of the camp.
“I don’t think normal public is involved in diplomacy but they can participate in pushing people-to-people contact and harmonising relationships. We do it with music, dance, and art. This artists’ camp is also like an ocean flowing from one day to another. We have worked on not only creating interactive works of art between artists of ASEAN countries and India but also perhaps somewhere succeeded in bringing their hearts closer to one another. With this process of people-to-people contact among a few creative artists I am sure we can bring people of this region on one single platform,” said Sanjeev Bhargava, founder director of Seher.
Phattaraporn Leanpanit (second from right) poses with Sanjeev Bhargava; minister of state, Ministry of External Affairs Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh; and ambassador of Thailand Pattarat Hongtong. The painter from Thailand who aces in making human portriats with watercolour worked on the elements that are common to both countries — bright flowers, temples and more. “This is the first time I am participating in the camp and I have enjoyed myself thoroughly. It’s so great to meet artists from different countries and learn from them,” said Phattaraporn.
Vanita Gupta painted an abstract painting that was minimal and in monotone, something that’s hard to decipher and that needed explanation from the artist. “My work is time and moment based. If I am not in sync with the time and place and the space it doesn’t happen. My whole effort is to arrive in one solid form and something that’s not scattered. I think these forms are floating in the space and I am just putting it on the canvas.”
Artist Anjum Khan who generally works on the theme of women and captures small moments, interpreted the theme of Oceans of Connectivity with a cluster of stories on the canvas. With a tiger sitting on a chair uncomfortably in front of a vast ocean and a spotlight over him, the artist calls for attention on the current problems. She said, “I think I have created a story where there is connectivity. Ocean is calling and we should listen to it. Also, we are grabbing the jungles with no place for animals and the tiger is shown like a showpiece here.”
Nabil Fikri Bin Haronli from Brunei Darussalam painted a portrait of a woman, a thing that he specialises in. He said, “The title of my painting is ‘The Art of Smile’ and the story is about the people I met because people for me represent not just faces and forms but colours as well.”
Nupur Kundu’s impasto painting was dotted with dash and dots. She said, “We always paint in solitary and this camp proved to be a great exercise to come out in the open and interact with artists from different region. I do impasto painting and my favourite colour is blue so I have tried to connect with etching and scratching of dots and dash.”
Sone Khounpaseuth from Lao PDR painted a big Buddha hand in gold in the backdrop of black. The artist who is also a teacher back home, specialises in print-making. Explaining her concept, she said, “In Loa, 50 per cent of the population is Buddhist and I know in India too Buddhism is followed. Usually I paint with the colour gold as seen in temples in Loa.”
Delhi-based Sonika Agarwal works on cosmic ocean and on big canvas. Her art represented the natural symmetry of the ocean’s waves, and explaining it she said, “This is about seeing the unseen. This is the expanse of cosmos. It’s also like coming of Shiva and Shakti together and we can also call it energy and matter. Each element is represented by one colour. I am talking about the rules of the cosmic oceans that we are all a part of.”
Pictures courtesy: Seher