Benode Behari’s handscroll on show on the Durbar Corridor Artwork Gallery
| Picture Credit score: Thulasi Kakkat
Bengali artist Benode Behari Mukherjee advised filmmaker Satyajit Ray, his former scholar at Santiniketan, when he was engaged on The Internal Eye, a documentary on the artist: “If you happen to want to search for my spirit, the essential essence of all that my life stands for, you can find it within the khoai. You could possibly say, I’m it.”
The khoai, geological formation typically within the form of tiny hills, present in Birbhum, Bardhaman and Bankura districts of West Bengal, held deep significance for the artist. He noticed a mirrored image of himself in it and he painted the khoai in nice element.
His khoai handscrolls are on present on the Durbar Corridor Artwork Gallery, together with different works that showcase his creative essence. The khoai handscrolls, on the primary ground of the gallery, have been displayed in lengthy stretches, which permit viewers to stroll alongside observing it simply as in the event that they had been strolling alongside the bodily panorama. Painted in tempera on Nepalese paper within the 1930s, the work in sepia, burnt purple, black and cream is a sign of his connection to his environment. Benode Behari taught at Visva-Bharati College at Santiniketan and spent most of his artistic life there.
Benode Behari’s handscroll
| Picture Credit score:
Thulasi Kakkat
A window to Santiniketan
The present, organised by the Kolkata Centre for Creativity in collaboration with the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Gallery Rada, has a group of his uncommon handscrolls and an early mural. It’s a window to Santiniketan and life round it — the detailed work providing greater than glimpses into the vegetation round Santiniketan, the village, and the individuals. “At a time when Indian artists had been portray mythological and historic topics to rig up a nationwide and cultural id, Benode Behari devoted himself to an intimate exploration of the place he lived in … with the place and time he lived in,” says Professor R Siva Kumar, the curator of the present in his curatorial assertion.
The artist was drawn to handscrolls, which has its roots within the East Asian panorama portray custom. Fragments from his Sal Forest work (ink of material) achieved within the 1930s are a part of this artistic section when he labored extensively on this format, exploring its each risk.
Born with a watch situation that deteriorated as he aged, Benode Behari continued to color. ‘Self Portrait as a Trainer’, a element from the mural Life on the Campus, which exhibits himself amongst his college students engaged in work and his meticulous statement. This can be a fresco on the wall, which was achieved in 1942.
Benode Behari’s handscroll
| Picture Credit score:
Thulasi Kakkat
The exhibition additionally features a ceiling mural, which he painted on the ceiling of a dormitory verandah in Santiniketan in 1940. It represents the standard village life within the area, its flora, fauna included. A few Benod Behari’s self portaits are on present.
Guests can watch a documentary on the artist on the bottom ground of the gallery, whereas an aural narrative of the present is obtainable on the higher ground, which could be accessed by scanning a QR code and utilizing the headphones offered.
Scenes from Santiniketan and Benode Behari’s Handscrolls is on until September 25.