Michelangelo would have never been able to carve the legendary marble statues of Moses or David if the aristocratic families of Florence did not sponsor his aesthetic enterprises. A student of College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, is now facing a similar predicament.
BFA final-year student Chintu Kumar is unable to complete his dream sculpture for want of tools and funds. Kumar has embarked on an ambitious project to sculpt a stone throne, Shatakon ka Singhasan (throne of centuries), for Sachin Tendulkar to celebrate the Master Blaster’s 100 tons. However, the budding artist is unable to complete his work, as his alma mater does not have necessary equipment, like metal strings, welding machine and armature table.
Also, Kumar does not have enough funds to complete his artwork. “I am very disappointed as I am unable to complete the sculpture. I wanted to construct the throne for Sachin Tendulkar to celebrate his 100th international century. I started the work in December — even before he achieved the feat — as I wanted to give the throne to him as soon as he scored the ton. But I could not complete it, as our college does not have the necessary equipment,” he said.
Kumar added that he had already spent Rs 30,000 on the artwork but he needs Rs 1 lakh more to complete it.
“I have finished the basic structure. But I need Rs 1 lakh more to purchase metal strings without which the structure would be incomplete,” he said.
Asked why he needs metal strings, Kumar explained: “I want to add a metallic ball, bat and wicket to the stone structure. But these strings are very expensive. As I can’t afford to buy them, I am unable to complete my work.”
He added: “If my college had the strings, I would have been able to finish the sculpture. Also, our department (sculpture) lacks the necessary equipment.”
Principal in-charge of the college, Atul Aditya Pandey confirmed that the sculpture department of the institute lacks the basic equipment.
He said: “Students of that department have to face many problems. Most of them work on clay sculptures. We hope to address these problems soon. Very recently, we got permanent faculty members.”
