Ranchi: The ripples of an idea, originating from Fabriano, a small Italian town known for its centuries-old tradition of handmade paper, crossed over 7,000km to touch hearts in Ranchi this week.
Students of DAV Public School, Gandhinagar, felt it first-hand on Friday while interacting with a group of 10 overseas artists taking part in the ongoing International Watercolour Festival at Audrey House.
"How do I know which particular genre of painting I should choose for specialising?" asked Md Raza, a Class VI student, when the artists visited their school on Friday.
Mong Mong Sho of China advised him to keep painting till he was comfortable with a particular style. The artists shared their individual journeys of becoming painters, replied to students' questions and even offered some tips on use of watercolour which is a tricky medium.
"It was a really a wonderful interactive session. So many artists from abroad came to our school and readily stayed on to answer every question of our students. The students found it very interesting," said Jaya Jaiswal, teacher in-charge of co-curricular activities.
The International Watercolour Festival came to Ranchi after Fabriano In Acquarello, a forum of international watercolour artists, approached the state art-culture, tourism and sports department.
"We had to organise it in India this year and we approached the Jharkhand government about six months ago," said Rajat Subhra Bandyopadhyay, India leader of the forum, explaining that the travelling exhibition was held in Brazil last year.
"We will take it to UAE and Italy over the next two years," added Anna Massinisa, a marketing professional, who founded Fabriano In Acquarello in 2010 to give wings to her passion of paining with water colour.
Fabriano, the town, was famous for making paper that is suitable for watercolour painting, she said, adding that a number of important watercolour festivals were also held there regularly.
"As a marketing and communications professional, I use to organise many conventions and thought of organising one for watercolour artists only about a decade ago," she revealed, adding that Fabriano paper was most suitable for watercolour because of its absorption prowess.
These days, Fabriano paper is made using machines. "But its characteristics are still excellent for water colour," Anna said.
Fabriano In Acquarello aims to promote watercolour painting with the involvement of artists from various countries. "Our motto is not to encourage competition, but to promote sharing of ideas and techniques," she said, adding they had held exhibitions in Brazil and Pakistan before coming up with the idea of a four-nation travelling exhibition.
The exhibition in Ranchi at Audrey House is on till Monday, August 27.
