PRADYUMNA KUMAR'S WORK ON POLLUTION

It is very fascinating to see how artists from traditional genres like Madhubani /Mithila Art or West Bengal Patachitra respond to current issues and events. Pradyumna Kumar is an award winning artist who  works in the Mithila Art tradition but has imbued it with ideas of his own. He was working on the idea of pollution in response to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan going on in the country and this is what he came up with - the idea of the scant respect we pay to our environment, the pollution and garbage we create at every step, every turn.

The work is extremely detailed and one can spend a lot of time looking through the work to pick up visual clues that show how Pradyumna's mind was working when he did this drawing. Enjoy

Telling Tales : Folk and Tribal Art Show at National Museums Liverpool

Three years. Six art forms in total, two per year. From across India. This was the scope of the joint India-UK collaborative project "Collecting Contemporary India" coordinated and curated by National Museums Liverpool and the Earth & Grass Workshop  from 2006 to 2009. Crisscrossing the country looking for folk arts and artists to build the collection was challenging and fulfilling for us at The Earth & Grass Workshop . Several wonderful artists and art traditions were identified and a substantial collection built up - from the Madhubani art tradition, Pushpa Kumari, Pradyumna Kumar, Mala Karn , from the West Bengal patachitra tradition, Mantu Chitrakar, Jaba Chitrakar and Sonia Chitrakar, the amazing Jogi family who have created the unique Jogi style of art,  Kalam Patua and his delicate Kalighat paintings, Paresh Rathwa with the magnificent Rathwa paintings and Gond art by Nankushia Shyam, Japani Shyam, Mayank Shyam and Mangru Uike .

The show Telling Tales display artworks from this collection and more and allows for a glimpse into Indian narratives as expressed in the myriad folk and tribal traditions in the country.

for more information and pictures

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalmuseumsliverpool/sets/72157633764431236/

 

http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/wml/exhibitions/telling-tales/Telling-Tales-video.aspx

 

 

Cross-Cultural Exchanges

One of my goals is to take traditional artists from India to venues across the world where they can interact with artists from other cultures and showcase their own traditions. Such exchanges allow for creativity to unfold in new, sometimes unexpected ways and lead to dialogue, sometimes without language.

Here are some pictures from Crosshatched, a cross-cultural exchange programme supported by the Australia-India Council wherein three artists from India ( Pushpa Kumari, a Madhubani artist, Pradyumna Kumar, a paper-machie sculptor from Madhubani and Mantu Chitrakar, a pattachitra artist from West Bengal) travelled to Melbourne and worked with Australian artists Ann Ferguson, and Vipoo Srivilasa. They also conducted workshops with children of all ages at different venues.

Mantu Chitrakar singing out a scroll

Vipoo and Pushpa with one of their collaborative work

Story-telling - Minhazz with Pradyumna's award winning story How the Firefly got its Light

Mantu Chitrakar with his daughter Sonia's work on the walls at The Early Learning Centre

Ann and Pradyumna working on their Fusion Tree
For more details of the project see http://www.crosshatched.multiply.com/

Colourful folk art from India - enjoy

Kalam Patua, Kalighat Contemporary

Pushpa Kumari, Madhubani, Contemporary

Pradyumna Kumar and Pushpa Kumari, Traditional aripana

Pradyumna Kumar # 3

Pradyumna Kumar's Madhubani paintings uses a lot of the stylistic devices of the tradition. here he has used paper specially treated with a cowdung paste which mimics the earthern walls of the traditional homes. Snakes are a symbol of fertility and prosperity and are very popular as motifs in Madhubani art. This work depicts the snakes in the form of an auspicious aripana or floor painting, a mandala of sorts.

Pradyumna Kumar # 2

As a Madhubani artist, Pradyumna Kumar specializes in unusual subjects. Not for him the oft-repeated motifs and stories. This is a particularly poignant painting inspired by the Hindu epic Ramayana where the good king Rama battles the evil king Ravana who has abducted Queen Sita. In this picture Mandadori, the wife of Ravana picks up his head from the battle-field after he has been defeated by Rama - Ravana had ten heads and could not be easily vanquished. For the world he may be a villain but for Mandadori, he is her beloved husband !! Such is the subjectivity of life !!

Pradyumna Kumar Madhubani Art # 1

Pradyumna Kumar is an award-winning Madhubani artist from India. His story is an unusual one - he was a land surveyor with no training in art till a surgery forced him to give up his job. Recuperating at home, he began to draw and paint, inspired by his wife and her family which boasts of legendary Madhubani artists Mahasundari Devi and Pushpa Kumari. He brings to Madhubani art his map-making experiences and new refreshing spatial configurations.

Madhubani art is from the north Indian state of Bihar and was traditionally a private ritual art created by women in the Mithila region. Therefore it is also known as Mithila Art. Traditionally these art works were created on the walls of the home during marriages and other ceremonies. In 1969, after a drought in the region, the government began encouraging the women to draw on paper with a view to sell these works and raise money for them. Today, both men and women paint and Madhubani art is one of India's most popular folk art forms.
Here Pradyumna has shown a pair of playful animals testing out their strength! Nature is indicated in the branch and clump of grass, signifying a pastoral setting !!