Kolkata’s love for art shone bright on the third and concluding day of CIMA Art Mela on Sunday, November 24. Sunday morning was especially busy with visitors taking their time to observe each piece before picking up the art of their choice.
Kalighat patachitras continued to hold sway as on the previous evening. One of the first two purchases of the day was a pair of Kalighat pat paintings — the first depicting dancers, and the second showing Durga with her family. Manisha Sinha, who picked up the paintings, chose them because of her love for intricate styles like Madhubani. As someone who likes to paint herself, she loved the Kalighat patachitra the most at the exhibition.
Manisha Sinha posing alongside her purchase — a Kalighat 'patachitra' of Mahishasurmardini Durga and her family
On the other side of the gallery, Srishti Tibrewalla made the second purchase of the day, which comprised a host of different paintings. She too chose a Kalighat patachitra, alongside the abstracts of other artists. Some of the paintings were for herself, so she chose them based on the aesthetics of her home. According to her, the variety at CIMA Art Mela meant that it was ideal to pick up gifts, which is what she did, choosing paintings based on her friends’ personalities.
Srishti Tibrewalla with her packet full of paintings
Art Mela also had a lot of young visitors on Sunday, with children accompanying their parents to the gallery and observing the displays. Encouraged by their parents, one of the young patrons picked up a bright painting by Satyajit Roy.
A young art fan holds up the painting of her choice
Along with patachitra, the works of Khokan Giri and sculptures also dominated the attention of visitors. Anupama Das felt she could resonate with the sculptures and chose Shyamal Roy’s terracotta work to place in her balcony, alongside her plants. “I enjoy having figures and forms around me; it makes the setting a little more lively,” she told My Kolkata.
Anupama Das with her choice of Shyamal Roy sculpture
The visitors seemed to have a preference for stylised art on this day, evident from the lingering crowd at Subir Dey’s exhibits. A family took its time to deliberate over and choose between two of the artist’s works, both bordering on surrealism with the motif of an almost androgynous monkey. The work resonated with them and had “a lot of character”, said the patrons. The painting would sit really well with their design plans for their home, they added.
A family tries to decide which of Subir Dey’s works to take home
A visiting couple chose seven paintings of different styles and sizes, after a few hours of carefully walking through each part of the gallery, sometimes even more than once. While they initially wanted to check out Sadikul Islam’s works, as they had purchased the artist’s paintings before, the visit turned out to be a complete artistic experience.
They chose paintings based on how they felt when looking at each artwork, and not the facts associated with them. This resulted in a selection that didn’t have anything too abstract or too rooted in realism — the perfect middle path. Ultimate for them, the works that instinctively spoke to them made it to their cart.
A pair of Kalighat 'patachitras' depicting Bengali couples
A standout feature of the gathering at CIMA on Sunday was that the variety in the tastes of customers matched the diverse range of art on display. Patrons even enquired if the displayed artworks would be available for purchase after the Mela ends — yes, while not on display, artworks will be available for purchase on enquiry.
While the Kalighat patachitra artworks emerged most popular, the city’s love for art was evident in every corner.
A young visitor looking around the paintings of the gallery
CIMA Art Mela is an annual exhibition held at the CIMA Gallery (43, Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue, Sunny Towers, 2nd Floor, Kolkata- 700019).
