
12-day Miniature Painting Camp starts at Kalagram today
- CHANDIGARHHEADLINES
- December 31, 2024
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By Ramesh K Dhiman
CHANDIGARH, December 31
A Miniature Painting Camp on the theme ‘Raagmala’, organized by the North Zone Culture Centre (NZCC), Ministry of Culture, Government of India, started at Kalagram, Manimajra (Chandigarh) here today.
The camp, an impassioned endeavour on the part of NZCC, is aimed at reviving the rich and rare of the art forms facing constant threats of extinctions, has come as a blessing in disguise for city art enthusiasts.
NZCC has invited top-ranking painters from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, who will recreate the magic of their craft with their nimble fingers, offering an insight into the historic miniature paintings and their groundbreaking efforts to protect and preserve them for posterity.
Prominent among the participants, some of them national awardees, include Vijay Sharma (Padamshri), Khush Narayan Jangid, Ram Swaroop Sharma, Jai Shankar Sharma, Preekshit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar Dhiman, Deepak Bhandari , Krishan Kant Sharma ‘Chhotu’, Mandeep Sharma, Anshu Mohan, Rajesh Soni, and Arvind Kumar, Bhuvneshvar Kumar, and Bhupinder Sharma.
The theme of the workshop this year is Raagmala, which is an integral part of the traditional Indian miniature art, a visual representation of the intricate musical modes (Ragas) of the Indian classical music. These art forms are believed to have emerged circa between the 16th and 19th centuries, often intertwine music, poetry, and the subtle art of evoking the essence of specific ragas.
Iconic miniature painter from Himachal Pradesh Vijay Sharma says “The paintings will be painted in a typical Kangra style, the cradle of Pahari paintings, which will depict various Ragas and Raginis based on the classification of 15 century musicologist Kshemkarna, who composed a treatise in Sanskrit illustrating the imageries of various musical modes”
The participating artists are breathing life into the lifeless images and painting them in bright colours at the ongoing camp depicting various ragas of the typical Indian classical music.They feel that the traditional miniatures had fallen to wanton neglect for decades now due to the apathetic attitude of the ruling dispensations helming the affairs from time to time.They voiced their concern and stressed the need for protecting the rich legacy of the Indian art forms facing constant threat of extinction.There is a desperate need to protect them from the vagaries of time, they added.
On the sidelights of the camp, programme in charge Yashwinder Sharma on the occasion said that the camp will prove to be a godsend opportunity for tricity art lovers, especially the students who are pursuing art as a career, adding that a daily lecture-cum-demo series will be the special attraction of the camp.