AND THE CIMA AWARD GOES TO...
... Harendra Kumar Kushwaha for his installation work that depicts the struggles of his life. Harendra received the highest honour from Alanna Heiss, former founder and director of PS1 and director of Clocktower Productions, and CIMA director Rakhi Sarkar at the CIMA Awards ceremony, presented by CIMA, with The Telegraph as the associate sponsor, on Saturday evening. “I was born in Nepal and work brought me to Calcutta. But this journey has seen many ups and downs,” said Harendra, a student of Rabindra Bharati University.
In the award-winning work, he has used Nepalese paper, thread and techniques like stitching and weaving. “I have tried to show the fragility and the rough edges of life through this installation, which has taken me three-and-a-half months to make. I’m grateful to CIMA for this award. The recognition, prize money, solo exhibition and residency that the award offers will be invaluable,” said the artist who participated in an art award show for the first time.
“When we started the CIMA Awards 2015, the idea was to create a platform across India to provide greater scope for artists to express their concerns and introduce a fair, objective and acceptable evaluation system.... The criterion was simple — practising artists with Indian residency, between the ages of 25 and 45. A two-tiered jury system finally decided on the awardees. The CIMA Award Show is the fruit of that meticulous process. We have representation from 24 states of India. The project has expanded to include multi-disciplines — design, architecture, peformance art and cinema — thus expanding into the Kolkata Art Festival,” said Rakhi Sarkar, introducing the awards before the ceremony.
THE P.C. CHANDRA MERIT AWARD
CIMA AWARD SHOW IS ON TILL MARCH 4 AT CIMA GALLERY, STUDIO 21, 3 DOVER PARK, GEM CINEMA AND ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS
