Briji Chhandam Kala Kendra, established by the late Kumar Pradyot Narayan, a celebrated musician of yesteryear, commenced its 46th anniversary celebration by paying a tribute to three veteran artistes for their contribution in their chosen sphere of art. On October 28 at Jogesh Mime Academy, the second annual Srijan Sweekriti Samman was bestowed upon Sumitra Sen, the Rabindra Sangeet exponent venerated for her refreshing, individualistic style, renowned elocutionist Pradip Ghosh and Salil Bhattacharya, the visual art virtuoso. The Kendra, assisted by Chhandita’s elocutionists, presented a few songs and poems that captured the festive spirit of autumn. Later Sampan, the musical wing of this institution, signed off with some melodious songs.
Meena Banerjee
An exhibition of Vinitha Anand’s works, Layam, at the Chitrakoot Art Gallery is a celebration of naivety in art. Raja Ravi Verma’s sister, Mangala Thamputayyi’s grand daughter, Anand has not adopted her maternal ancestral style. Neither has she been trained as a visual artist. Yet, there is an untutored charm in her water colours. Unawares, she breaks with the tradition of landscape painting. Milu Banerjee had in the 1960s expounded the theory of ‘contra-perspective’. In this visual system, things in the front look smaller than things at the back. The vanishing point is not on the background but foreground. Anand’s set of three trees as well as the painting of a temple with hanging bells in front has this feel. Anand achieves it, despite no knowledge of the ‘prescriptive synthesis’.
Sandip Sarkar
An ‘attractive dance evening’ as promised by Nrittayan, proved to be rather unattractive. Staged at Rabindra Bhawan on November 5, the evening started off on a limp note with the audience waiting for more than half an hour for the programme to begin. When it did start, chaos marred the proceedings. The first item, Om, an invocatory number, though an innovative concept — seeking to blend Kathak with other folk styles — turned out to be disappointing, marked by a lack of rehearsal. Trital, which replicated an actual class with the guru imparting lessons to her young wards on teen taal, also failed to impress.
Shibani Chattopadhyay
