Head to EZCC for a visual treat, but do so today, as it is the last day of the Kolkata International Art Fair. There are stalls displaying the works of 114 artistes, including from countries like Norway, Spain, Italy, Bahrain, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The exhibition will be from 2pm to 8pm and is being organised by the Guild of Fine Art and Artists (Goffa) in collaboration with the ministry of culture and EZCC.
“This is the first such fair of this scale in our city,” said Alok Roy, painter and secretary of the city-based Goffa. “Calcutta was once the cultural capital, but that tag has faded now. Painters prefer Delhi or Mumbai for exhibitions as there are more buyers there, but we are trying to revive the scene here. We are a relatively new body — this is only our first anniversary — but we are delighted to have been able to go international in this short time.”
The very first day of the fair saw the sale of seven works and some paintings got sold right after the painters created them at live workshops. The artistes are also creating a cancer fund out of their sales proceeds to handover to charity.
The event was inaugurated by the likes of sculptor Biman Bihari Das, artiste Bimal Kundu and art historian and critic Prasanta Daw.
Most of the international exhibitors have sent their works over, but one — Dag Hol of Norway — has come down himself and is chatting happily with visitors. “Most of my paintings are fantasy, but I am very interested in Indian philosophy and culture. One of my works on display is the painting of a rock near the Kedarnath temple that I felt resembled a bull, so I like to imagine it is Nandi,” Hol smiled. “I’ve been to India 30 times, but this is my first time exhibiting in Calcutta. This fair is a good initiative, and art in the city will develop further with more such platforms for professional artists.”
Mural of the story
A must-see is the murals on the ground floor, near the EZCC office. “The Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre — EZCC — works to preserve and promote the cultural heritage of eight eastern states and a union territory, so we approached the painters to beautify our walls on these very themes,” said director of EZCC Ashis Giri.
The floor-to-ceiling artworks are fabulous. Spread across 1,000sq ft, this is permanent too. Andaman has an illusion of the sea, dolphins, scuba divers and tourists. Assam has the one-horned rhinos, bihu dancers, the Brahmaputra and Assam silk saris. The Bihar wall uses the Buddha as a reference to Bodh Gaya and the ruins of Nalanda, Manipur features Manipuri dancers, Jharkhand Birsa Munda, Odisha depicts the Jagannath temple and Odissi dancers, Tripura stone carvings, Sikkim monasteries and West Bengal features motifs such as Victoria Memorial and goddess Kali.
“Most of us are young painters and are led by seasoned artists Amit Sharma and his wife Manti Sharma,” said Alok Bhushan, one of the mural painters who hails from Bihar.
“We all have different styles and are inspiring one another. Each one’s strengths are being tapped to get the best results,” added another painter, Hariom Saurabh. They worked from 9am to noon and again after the exhibition from 10pm to midnight to get the work done.
The fair overlapped with Swami Vivekananda’s 163rd birth anniversary, an occasion that is being commemorated simultaneously with the Bharatiyam Mahotsav. So visitors seamlessly floated from one venue to the other within the same complex.
There were eminent performers like the folk band Dohar, Dancer’s Guild and Lopamuda Mitra. “EZCC does a lot to promote music and dance, but in visual arts, we have thus far only held modest art workshops. This international fair is the first time we are going all-out in this stream,” said Giri. “We are happy it coincided with Swamiji’s birth anniversary, as the monk believed in mobilising the youth. We too want to encourage our youth to build a culturally strong India.”