A painting by Atul Dodiya made sitting on the porch of an old house in Hindustan Park in 2016 and donated to the Calcutta Architectural Legacies (CAL), a trust that fights for the protection of the city’s heritage, has been sold for Rs 20 lakh.
The proceeds will be spent on CAL’s work. The buyer prefers to remain anonymous, said a CAL member.
Dodiya donated the painting to CAL in an “act of amazing generosity and solidarity with the cause”, the forum said.
Dodiya, whose works include paintings, assemblages and sculpture-installation, had spoken at an old residential house in Hindustan Park in 2015 on an invitation from CAL. He then painted live in the house’s porch in response to the CAL’s campaign.
CAL has been arguing for an expansion of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s heritage list, for an end to the downgrading of graded buildings in the list and for historic neighborhoods to be turned into heritage zones. The trust has also been working to bring Kolkata’s unique architectural inheritance to people’s consciousness.
Author and singer Amit Chaudhuri, founder of CAL, said it was an important moment for the trust and for the movement to protect Kolkata’s heritage and architectural legacies.
“We have always received support from many people. When one of the most serious artists donates a painting, it shows that he felt for the cause. It is an act of generosity and activism,” he said.
A petition by CAL and INTACH, which also works for heritage conservation, in the high court has led to an interim order that has put a stop for about three years to all downgrading and delisting of heritage buildings in Kolkata, said a CAL member.