Students view the exhibition at Delhi Public School, Ruby Park. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

The image of the artist, poverty-stricken and unrecognised, is a thing of the past. Students pursuing art can now eye careers in web design and fashion, advertising and even in art history.

This was the topic of discussion at a seminar on art as a career, organised by Delhi Public School (DPS), Ruby Park, on March 25, alongside the school’s annual art and craft exhibition. The exhibition, that stepped into its fourth year, included work by students from Class II to X.

The panelists for the seminar included Dipali Bhattacharya, faculty at Government College of Art and Craft, Anurag Hira, the executive creative director of advertising agency Bates 141, and fashion designer Shampa Mukherjee.

Bhattacharya focussed on specialisations like sculpture and modelling, textile, interior or ceramics designing available to students today. “Art is a lucrative career option today. An artist can sell his work at figures ranging from a few thousands to millions,” she said.

She stressed on the need for more colleges to fit the increasing numbers of students.

Hira broke the myth of advertising as a “cool” profession, for long hours are the order of the day here. “It is important to be patient, as success does not come easy,” he explained.

Mukherjee shared tidbits on the fashion industry. “You need not sport the latest styles to be a fashion designer. One needs to be able to sketch, have a concept of colours and be willing to experiment. You can be an apprentice to a designer, be employed in an export house or freelance.” she said.

Students also had questions. “ What does an art historian do?” asked Debottam Chattapadhyay of Class X.

“He/she analyses works of art. Art history is a subject as any other. A department is devoted to it in Santiniketan,” replied Bhattacharya.

“This seminar was organised to help channelise students’ interests,” said Anusree Ghose, the principal of DPS, Ruby Park.

Jhinuk Mazumdar

Schools pad up for T20

The Indian Premier League has left the country for cooler climes, but cricket buffs can catch a spot of T20 action at the Victo Inter School T20 Cricket Tournament, to be held in association with The Telegraph in Schools (TTIS) from April 7.

Sixteen city schools, including Calcutta Boys’, South Point, Birla High School for Boys, La Martiniere for Boys, Nava Nalanda and St Xavier’s will vie for the Regent Cup here.

The tournament will have four groups of four teams each, comprising players from classes VII to XII. Each team will play all the others in the group. The top two from each group will go into the quarterfinals.

Two matches each will be played at the Sealdah Ground and East Calcutta District Sports Council Ground at 9am and at 1pm.

“School cricket has been the stepping stone for many a talented player, including Sunil Gavaskar. This tournament might throw up some good ones too,” said Sambaran Banerjee, former cricketer and a member of the governing body of the tournament.

The finals will take place at East Calcutta ground on April 17. The prizes will include a “Best Disciplined Team” trophy.

Azaan Ali Jahangir, the vice-captain of the St James’ School team, is geared up for the matches. “The T20 format tests the techniques of the player rather than the consistency,” he felt.

Since its inception in 1993, Victo has organised several club cricket tournaments in Bengal. “Next year, we plan to move to the district schools,” said Sanjay Agarwal, a member.

JM

CHIT CHAT

The press, then & now

On March 6 and 7, the history and journalism and mass communication departments of Mrinalini Datta College organised a UGC-sponsored seminar, titled “Perspectives of the Press: 19th Century to the Present”.

The keynote address was delivered by professor S. Joshi, the vice-chancellor of Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita University, Raipur, who traced the rise and growth of the press in India and the world. He highlighted the changing face of the print media due to the convergence of various mass media and referred to such new features in the modern newspaper, like photo news, soft news, multiple editions. He also pointed out the sustained belief of the public in the reliability of newspapers, compared to other media.

The focus of discussion on the first day was 19th century press, especially in undivided Bengal, while varying aspects of the 20th century press was covered on Day II.

The audience, including teachers and students from various universities and colleges, interacted with historians and journalists. Among them were professor Muntassir Mamoon and Soumitra Sekhar of Dhaka University. Manju Chattopadhyay, the president of Paschim Banga Itihas Samsad, envisaged a greater role for the Indian press in spite of the challenges it faces today.

Students view the exhibition at Delhi Public School, Ruby Park. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

 

Prize day

Birla High School for Girls celebrated its Annual Prize Day on March 25. Students of classes IX and XI put up a rendition of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem Where the Mind is Without Fear in the four languages taught in the school — Bengali, Hindi, French and English, with a blend of music and theatre.

Next up was a fusion rendition of John Denver’s classic Leaving on a jet plane, featuring instruments including the guitar, keyboard, drums, violin, tabla and maracas. The junior students staged The Wizard of Oz.

The principal, S. Bose, presented her annual report, summing up the school activities throughout the year. Students who had performed well academically were given certificates and books.

Neha Jain, Class X
Birla High School for Girls