Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24: Works of both Indian and foreign artists were on display at two art exhibitions in the capital last week. A group of 25 artists from India and South East Asian countries presented an exhibition titled Merging Metaphors while Amiya Kumar presented his solo works.

The weeklong exhibition, Merging Metaphors, concluded at the regional centre of Rashtriya Lalit Kala Akademi on Friday. The gallery housed works created during the India-ASEAN art residency organised by Indian Council for Cultural Relations at Darjeeling in June. The paintings reflect the inspiration the artists drew from the panoramic landscapes of the hill station.

Using Chinese ink on rice paper, a painting titled Profile of the Mountain Spirit by Singapore’s Quek Kiat Sing spoke of the bamboo-sticks of Darjeeling and Min Wae Aung from Myanmar presented a serene picture of Indian women walking on a barren land in Indian Girls. Among works by the Indian artists, Binoy Varghese’s Refugee in Own Land portrayed the menace of migration and displacement. Several abstract paintings and a couple of sculptures were also on display.

“This is so different from Indian school of art. I loved the painting of Buddha by Thailand’s Thawul Praman,” said Nguyen Tran Tien, a Vietnamese student at Ravenshaw University.

The exhibition, which was organised here by Indian Council for Cultural Relations’ regional office in collaboration with Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi, was earlier held in Patna and Calcutta. It will travel to Bhopal and Lucknow soon.

In the solo exhibition, 37-year-old Amiya Kumar tried his hand at reflecting the different facets of human emotions on canvas. The two-day exhibition organised at Jayadev Bhavan showed the painter’s works, mostly in acrylic and water colours.

“My paintings dwell on the fortitude and follies of human sentiments. They speak about the Indian society and our diverse culture,” said Kumar.