Bengal Beyond Boundaries at Bikaner House, New Delhi. 07-07-2023 to 16-07-2023
“What is Art? It is the response of man’s creative soul to the call of the Real.” - Rabindranath Tagore
In the rasping of our existential struggle, a tweak of joy and splash of pathos, there is a beautiful mind that still lives within us and celebrates the delight of art to find solace in the exquisiteness and magnificence of any creation. My journey into the art world for more than two decades has now been a celebration of an association with galaxy of precious and poignant creations of maestros as well as the leading contemporaries of Bengal. I have seen art burgeon, bloom, amalgamate and spread its ethos and aura beyond borders. Bengal has always been a cultural hub of the country and the City of Joy – Kolkata, its cultural capital. I was fortunate enough to initiate my footsteps as a gallerist from this city and eventually travelled extensively across the country. Aakriti Art Gallery has evolved with the passage of time and with its good will and positive spirit since its inception, it continues to expand the canvas of creations and has been successfully engaged to bring novel opportunities for the artists, the art lovers, the art critics, the art buffs, the art collectors, the connoisseurs and so on. And here, I take the opportunity to introduce our new venture – ‘Bengal Beyond Boundaries’, an exhibition quite unique of its kind. As the name itself connotes it is going to be an all-encompassing journey of the artists from Bengal initiating with the Bengal School of Art till the emerging contemporary art practitioners.
The conglomeration of the old and the new, the Masters and the New Generation artists with the blending of cultures has always been the core fortitude of our gallery. I always believe that it’s my responsibility to present to the audience the holistic nature of art where individual creative calls can merge with the cosmic beauty and the aesthetics of art – the unison of personal emotions with the universal truths. This is probably for the first time that such a large scale exhibition has been mounted by our gallery to showcase Bengal artworks from different periods in different styles under a single roof at Bikaner House in New Delhi from 7th – 16th July, 2023. This is a moment of great joy and pride for us that we have been able to create a huge palette where Bengal artists beginning from early oil paintings, works by the Bengal Masters along with significant contemporary artists who are the torchbearers of the modern Indian art will be presented together.
The art world is quite closely associated with two of our distinguished exhibitions over the years – ‘Masterpiece’ and ‘Gen Next’, where the maestros and the contemporaries, alsothe budding ones were presented broadly in two different shows. It is for the first time we have meticulously designed a distinctive show to bring them together and I must mention here that without the kind and consistent support of our own Jogen da (Jogen Chowdhury) conceptualizing the show ‘Bengal Beyond Boundaries’ would not have been possible. I’m grateful to eminent Art Critic and Curator , Uma Nair who agreed to curate this show for us at the Bikaner House and also thankful to Pranab da (Pranab RanjanRay) to extend his helping hand for building up the archive section of the catalogue. My friends Chhatrapati Dutta and Nanak Ganguly for their help in arranging the movies of legendary artists to be screened at the venue, also helping in organising the interactive session. Tapas Konar and Timir Bramha in helping coordinate. Above all how can I not take a bow before my collector & gallereist friends who have always led the path of hope for me and my endeavours and given me the courage and fuel to persistently continue in the art world!
I am ever fascinated with the kind of works artists from Bengal have been creating since time immemorial and they have been the sole source of inspiration that has allowed me to surpass all odds and become a miniscule particle, whatever I’m, in this humungous creative world as an art admirer, I can’t be more obliged to the artists who have been a part of my journey in all these years. I indeed feel honoured to be able to announce the names of the artists who will be a part of ‘Bengal Beyond Boundaries’. From anonymous Early Bengal artists, there will be works of Hemendranath Mazumdar, Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindratha Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Manishi De, Somnath Hore, Gopal Ghose, Rabin Mondal, Ganesh Haloi, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Gobardhan Ash, Katick Chandra Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury, Arpita Singh, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Pradeep Moitra, Anjolie ElaMenon, Samir Aich, Shuvaprasanna, Shipra Bhattacharjee, Paresh Maity, Jayasri Burman, Jayashree Chakravarty, Tapas Konar, Aditya Basak, Chhatrapati Dutta, Sudip Roy, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Samindranath Mazumdar, Akhil Chandra Das, Subrata Biswas, Tapas Biswas and others.
I wish and hope that this exhibition becomes a historic episode of the twenty-first century and the aesthetic aroma ofthe art of Bengal once again reaches out to the plethora of art lovers in a fresh novel way retaining its timelessness and classical magnanimity. I heartily welcome you all to witness and enjoy the spirit of ‘Bengal Beyond Boundaries’.
- Vikram Bachhawat
