♦ Rekha Chitram hosted its annual art exhibition at its CK Block address where students of the art school displayed their work.

The number of paintings displayed totalled around 750. “These are the works of about 500 students. We let them exhibit from their third year with us. Exceptions are made for talented students in the first or second year too. Another 200 are by me and my mother,” said principal Arun Chakraborty.

His mother Rekha Chakraborty had founded the school in 1980. “We have been holding this annual art show from our first year itself. Rekha Chitram used to be on the first floor of CA Market earlier. We shifted to CK Block in 1991,” he added.

The highlight of the opening day was the presence of stalwarts like Sankha Ghosh, Alokranjan Dasgupta and Rabin Mondal as guests.

“We have been coming to the opening of this exhibition together for several years now. Every year we feel anxious whether we can come again. A bond exists. Our philosophers say that if we remain self-content it would hamper the creation of art. Then it would require an angel with no link to religion. Arun is such an angel,” said Dasgupta, drawing on Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies, published in 1923, and referring to Chakraborty, the principal.

Admiring the paintings by the younger students, Mondal mentioned the art of Jean Dubuffet who coined the term art brut, or raw art, referring to art produced by non-professionals working outside aesthetic norms, such as art by psychiatric patients and children. “Let the imagination of children take wing as they paint,” he said.

The participants included both veterans and debutants. Sisters from Kestopur, Shyri and Sarengi Sarkar, have been taking part in the exhibition for nine and five years respectively. While 17-year-old Shyri had painted a study of a fruit bowl and a jug in oil, Sarengi, 8, had painted a child running on a snow-covered path in water colour.  “She saw snow for the first time during our trip to Kashmir three years ago,” mother Sulekha recalled.

Alankrita Pratik’s scenery in pastel was her first entry in an exhibition. “It sure feels nice to visit one’s own exhibition,” smiled the Class VI student from Greenwood Park in New Town, who had come with her parents.

Chakraborty had put up a series of thread-on-canvas paintings and portraits of icons by himself and his mother.

“Embroidery is a traditional folk craft that has transformed into fine art. This expertise has been handed down generations to me from my grandmother and mother,” said Chakraborty.

He pointed out to his guests the intricacies and differences in round stitch, run stitch, satin stitch and applique which had been employed in each painting.

The exhibition was on for a week.

Old tunes’ sake

♦ Sohini, a New Town-based music school celebrated its annual day at EZCC.

The programme was inaugurated with the chanting of a stotra on Ramakrishna and Sarada ma by students of the school and its founder Debasree Mukherjee.

This was followed by the solo rendition of Mon chalo nijo niketaney by Mukherjee.

Ten-year-old student Ishita Halder sung three songs from three different genres in her mellifluous voice. Banani Saha, another student, presented three Tagore songs and a puratani song composed by Bharatchandra Ray Gunakor.

There was also a performance by guest artiste Sanjukta Bhaduri, who presented songs of D.L. Roy, Atulprasad Sen, Rajanikanta Sen and concluded with the patriotic song Dhanodhanya pushpe bhara and invited audience participation.

The programme concluded with a few more songs by Mukherjee. Her focus was on puratani songs but she touched upon bhajans, toppa and folk songs too.

“My main objective in teaching students is to revive puratani songs that are almost lost now,” said Mukherjee, a disciple of Ramkumar Chattopadhyay. “I thank parents of the students for their interest and co-operation in keeping the genre alive.”

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