Moharana with the Armenian culture minister Narine Aghabalyan. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Odia sculptor Kanta Kishore Moharana returned home on Monday after taking part in the 20-day-long Third International Sculpture Symposium at Shushi in Armenia.

Named Peace to Artsakh, the symposium was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of signing of the armistice, a ceasefire agreement between Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh. The event was held at the Artsakh State Museum of Fine Arts where a dozen artistes from Italy, Switzerland, India, Belarus, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh took part.

At 34, Moharana was the youngest participant and was thrilled to represent India at the cultural gathering. He had applied to be part of the symposium and his application was selected. The participants were asked to create a sculpture themed on peace. “International artists make more of figurative sculptures unlike Indians, who work mostly on symbolism. I made a 108 Shiva-lingas placed in a huge bowl. I wanted to show that much like Lord Shiva, the human race could be the creator, preserver and the destroyer. Hence, they must understand their powers and responsibility,” he said.

The artists were given basalt stones to work upon.

Moharana did not have the sophisticated machinery of his foreign counterparts. He toiled hard for 20 days and even suffered minor injuries on his arms in the process.

The participants were also taken for sightseeing excursions. Moharana was not only mesmerised by the beautiful landscape of Armenia, but was also overwhelmed by the hospitality of the hosts. He said how culture minister Narine Aghabalyan used to come everyday to motivate the participants.

“They have immense respect for art and artists. I have been to Paris and Slovakia to attend symposiums, but they were nothing like Armenia. When I barely said that I would like to stay there forever, the government officials took it seriously and were ready to go to an extent of arranging everything I needed,” he said.

The artworks created at the event are now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Another Odia sculptor, Gadadhar Ojha, has been invited to represent India at the 21st Recontres Internationales de Sculpture de Sprimont in Belgium. The sculpture symposium began today and will continue till the end of the month. About 17 sculptors have been selected from Belgium, France, Italy, India, Netherlands and Spain. Ojha hails from a family of sculptors and today has been successful in carving a niche for himself as one of the best stone sculptors of the country. Born and brought up in Puri, he came close to the art form at College for Arts, Delhi.