Bhubaneswar, March 15: Lalit Kala Akademi has decided to publish around 11 monographs on renowned artists of the state this year.

The monographs will contain details about the life of the artists and their achievements. "It will feature some of the works of the artists along with the idea behind those. It will help the youngsters have a grasp of the thought process of veteran artists," said the academy secretary Tarakanta Parida.

As a part of the initiative, state culture minister Ashok Panda launched a monograph on artist Muralidhar Tali at the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalaya auditorium on the occasion of the Akademi's foundation day.

Monographs on artists such as Ajit Keshari Ray, Binod Routray and Chandrasekhar Rao among others will also be released.

The Akademi has also decided to conduct an exhibition on works by tribal artists of the state. "We will first organise a workshop where artists from 64 different tribes of the state will be invited. Senior painters will conduct it. The workshop will be followed by an exhibition. The aim is to promote tribal art works," said Parida.

The workshop will be conducted in May and plans are on to invite renowned tribal artists from all parts of the country.

A painting exhibition was also organised today. Around 100 paintings selected from six artists' camps held across the state last year were displayed.

Paintings from the Malkangiri and Daringabadi camps demonstrating tribal lifestyle caught the attention of the visitors.

A unique painting by Somburu Sovana showed the Holy Trinity - Lord Jagannath, Lord Balaram and their sister Goddess Subhadra - in a tribal avatar.

Visitors appreciated the paintings portraying Buddha in various meditating positions. Students from the Dhauli College of Art and Crafts made these paintings at their artists' camp.

Some of the art works also showed the lifelong struggles of Subhas Chandra Bose. These were made on the occasion of Netaji Jayanti in Cuttack.

"There were a few paintings of peacocks that I liked very much. The one showing a peacock playing in the rain and dancing with Lord Krishna was really nice," said Bibhu Prasad Jena, an art enthusiast.