Portraying human personality Judging from an art historical perspective, it is not difficult to recognise that Sarbari Roy Choudhury stands out among those who came onto the Indian art scene in the 1950s. His work, like that of several early modern Western sculptors, is grounded in the human figure. But the fact that India is home to a celebrated, 3000-year-old tradition of figural sculpture is not what makes him remarkable. His work, however, does not connect up with his legacy, as much as it does with the early modernist tradition of using figure as an autonomous, non-narrative embodiment of expressive and symbolic content. While ancient Indian sculpture remains a pinnacle of achievement for Roy Choudhury, it is the product of a collective form of creativity and a different kind of patronage, both alien to the modern period. Beginning his career soon after Independence, he moved from a tradition of sculpture that revolved around portraits and public monuments, towards sculpture that saw the human figure as an intimate object, free from narration and external reality and manifesting the artist’s sensibility. For him, more than likeness, a portrait has to be haunting and compelling; only then will it continue to live, transcending history. This evening, on the occasion of the opening of a retrospective show of his works, Ashok Vajpeyi will launch R. Siva Kumar’s Sensibility Objectified: The Sculptures of Sarbari Roy Chowdhury. Hosted by Akar Prakar, Lalit Kala Akademi and Mapin Publishing. Event: Launch of R. Siva Kumar’s book Sensibility Objectified: The Sculptures of Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, along with a preview of a retrospective show of the sculptor’s work When: Today; 6 pm Where: Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park

Art

April 28 - 30 at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala, ground floor; 2 pm - 8 pm: A solo exhibition of paintings by Madhumita Das Gupta. April 28 - May 3 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 6 pm: Preview of Imprints — masterstrokes made timeless, showcasing works of grandmasters S.H. Raza, Ram Kumar, Krishen Khanna and Akbar Padamsee. Presented by Artiere and Tao Art Gallery. The preview show is presented by HSBC Premier. The show will continue till May 3, between 4 pm and 8 pm. Till April 28 at Chemould, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: The third solo show of Sasanka Ghosh’s works. Till April 30 at Art Walk, South City Mall; 12 noon - 8 pm: ...and Nature — an exhibition of recent watercolours and mixed media works by Suman Kabiraj. Till April 30 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #65508418; 10.30 am - 7 pm: The Rhythm of Colour — works by Subrata Gangopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Prakash Karmakar, Shyamal Mukherjee, Samir Paul, Bratin Khan, Sanatan Dinda, Gourango Beshai, Sibsaday Chaudhuri, Atin Basak and others. Till April 30 at Genesis Art Gallery, 8B Middleton Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Connoisseurs’ Choice — an exhibition of paintings by Arpan Bhowmik, Arunabha Karmakar, Bratin Khan, Dewashish Das, Hari Sadhan Dey, Partha Pratim Deb, Sanatan Dinda, Shyamal Mukherjee, Subhendu Porel, Subrata Das, Suchismita Sahoo, Suhas Roy, Sukanta Das, Sutapa Khan and sculptures by Banasri Khan. Till April 30 at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #2465 3212; 11 am - 7 pm: Rokeya Sultana: Mixed Media and Gouache. Till April 30 at Genesis Art Gallery, 8B Middleton Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Connoisseurs’ Choice — a group exhibition of paintings. Till April 30 at the exhibition hall of Gorky Sadan; 4 pm - 7 pm: A group show of visual art to mark the 35th anniversary of Gorky Sadan. Till May 1 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South ‘B’ Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Joy Dey, Piyali Chakraborty, Umesh Jana, Somnath Tamli, Punam Dolui, Arun Jana and Aloke Kumar Dey. Till May 1 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South ‘A’ Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: The Art Quest presents a group show featuring paintings by Amlan Dutta, Mithun Dutta, Rajib Deyashi, Raju Sarkar and Durbananda Jana. Till May 2 at Galerie Karma, P-505 Keyatala Road, #2463 6731/2: Destiny — recent drawings and paintings by Basudeb Pal Majumdar. Till May 2 at G.C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery, 7 Chittaranjan Avenue, #6521 6931; 2 pm - 7 pm: The 4th annual exhibition of painting, graphic and sculpture. Till May 3 at Abanindranath Tagore Gallery, Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, 9A Ho Chi Minh Sarani; 11 am - 7 pm: Slovak Contemporary Graphic Art, an exhibition of the works by 37 artists of the Slovak Republic. Till May 9 at the Promenade Lounge, Taj Bengal: The Vase and The Warriors of Love, a solo show of new works by Italian artist Tarshito. Till May 15 at Gallery with Difference, 152 S.P. Mukherjee Road, near Rashbehari crossing: Narrative Movements 2009 — an exhibition of group show, curated by Bibekananda Santra. Till May 15 (except Sunday and holidays) at Eye on Art Gallery, 3 Pretoria Street, 2nd floor; 12 noon - 8 pm: Forms of Narration, featuring the works of Arnab Mukherjee, Arpita Pradhan, Biswajit Mukherjee, Nandita Mukherjee, Subha Basu, Sudipta Dutta, Sumana Biswas, Sumana Ghosh, Sushmita Rakshit and Utpal Dutta. Till May 20 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Somnath Hore: Bronzes, Drawings, Watercolours — an exhibition of the works of Somnath Hore. Till May 24 (except Monday) at Bose Pacia, Stephen Court, 18 Park Street, #40010148; 11 am - 7 pm: The Vase and The Lines — new works by Tarshito. Till May 25 at The Halo Heritage Art Gallery, 26 Ritchie Road, #9830050568; 3 pm - 8 pm: Heritage Happenings — an exhibition of sketches and watercolours by Samir Biswas.

DRAMA

Till April 30 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: A drama festival to mark Annkul Banerjee Centenary Celebrations. Today: Theatre Workshop presents Jadio Galpo, directed by Ashok Mukhopadhyay. April 28 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Charbak presents Chalo Patol Tuli. Drama, music & direction: Arindam Ganguly. April 30 at Padatik’s Buildwell Theatre, 6/7 AJC Bose Road; 7 pm: Patjhad (Hindustani adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Meangerie) — Little Thespian’s latest production. Adaptation, design & direction: S.M. Azhar Alam. May 1 - 3 at Academy of Fine Arts: A festival of plays, produced by Bohurupee. May 1 at 3 pm: Birja-Sulka; at 6 pm: Release of an album to mark 60 years of Bohurupee, to be followed by the play, Kaal Sandhya. May 2 at 3 pm: Nishiddha Thikana; at 6.30 pm: Deepa Dwanda. May 3 at 3 pm: Chhanch Bhanga Murti; at 6.30 pm: Phullaketur Pala.

PERFORMING ARTS

May 1 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; 6.30 pm: The First of May by Usha Uthup. A string of songs interspersed with talks that link one song to the other. May 2 at Rabindra Sadan; 6 pm: A solo recital of Tagore songs by Pramit Sen.

EXHIBITION

Till April 28 at Seagull Bookstore, 31A S.P. Mukherjee Road, opp. Bhowanipore Police Station: An exhibition of books on poems. Till April 30 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2461 3145; 10 am - 7 pm: Rangeen presents Constructing the Unexpected — fibre and textile art using the basics of nature with contemporary techniques. Till April 30 at P-249 Purna Das Road, #24644027; 11 am - 8 pm: Darbari is holding an exhibition, Agomoni, showcasing a summer collection of saris, salwar-suits, kurtis, skirts, accessories and an all-new men’s chic ethnic collection. Till April 30 at Lepakshi Handicrafts Emporium, F-17 Dakshinapan, Dhakuria; 11.30 am - 7.30 pm: Andhra Pradesh Handicrafts Development Corporation presents a collection of saris like Mangalgiri, Gadwal and Chanderi, and handicrafts like Bidris, Kondapally, toys and brass statues. Till May 7 at Soumya’s Creation, 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10.30 am - 6.30 pm: Summerfare — an exhibition of unstitched salwar suits specially designed for the summer.

TALK

April 28 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Tattwavidananda will speak in Bengali on Gitar Chirantan Bhavana. April 28 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Atmabodhananda will discuss in Bengali Sri Sri Mayer Katha.

launch

April 28 at the Vidyasagar Hall, The Asiatic Society; 5 pm: The release of Volume V containing Sanskrit Inscription Period 700 AD - 800 AD, published by Uttankita Vidya Aranya Trust.

FILM SHOW

April 28 at Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street; 5 pm: Oxford Bookstore Calcutta and Shut up and Watch (the film club of Zee Studio) present on-the-house screening of the internationally acclaimed and multiple award-winning movie, The Motorcycle Diaries, a biopic about the journey and written memoir of Che Guevara. April 28 at Gorky Sadan: Gorky Sadan and Eisenstein Cine Club present Cinema Continental, a festival of films in celebration of life. At 5.30 pm: Whale Rider (Dir: Niki Caro; New Zealand). At 7.30 pm: The Sweet Hereafter or Family Viewing (Dir: Atom Egoyan; Canada).

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till April 29 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Members of the Association of Freelance Photographers and Art Pictorialists present their 7th annual exhibition of photography. Participants: Animesh Basak, Asish Gopal Mazumder, Asoke Sen, Barun De, Mohan Chandra, Pranab Kumar Burman, Sankar Dasgupta, Somnath Mukherjee and Sushil Kumar Dutta.

WORKSHOP

May 1 - 3 at 23-F D.P.P. Road, Naktala: Sur-Sadhna, under Shakhri Begum Memorial Trust, will hold a summer grooming camp on the following subjects: Voice Culture and Aesthetics (on May 1), Sound and Stage Performance (on May 2), and Diction and Interaction (on May 3). To be conducted by Ustad Sabir Khan, Haimanti Shukla, Ustad Rashid Khan, Nachiketa, Debasree Roy and Purbasha. Details at #2471-9150, #9007312160.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph,6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244