On the occasion of Utkal Dibas, the alumnibkcac is organising a sketching workshop Chitra Murchhana, at Bibhuti Kanungo College of Art & Crafts

Bibhuti Kanungo College of Art & Crafts, Bhubaneswar, has completed 25 years of its inception. In these twenty five years the college has produced number of students those have brought laurels to the institution through their extraordinary achievement in the field of fine arts. It was the BK College of Art &Crafts that brought in tremendous change in the area of art education in Orissa. It could never have been possible without its dedicated teachers, who besides being great artists proved to be the best art educators. The students in these years have been linked to the college in various capacities, some serving the college as teacher, at present and some are visiting faculties in the post graduate courses, while some are still living in the nostalgia.

In order to participate in the celebration of 25 years, the alumni of the college got together under the aegis of alumnibkcac, to celebrate the silver jubilee event with extensive programmes throughout the year 2009-10. The events, which are presently planned, range from film shows, exhibitions, art interactions, symposium and an international conference on Teaching and Learning in Fine Arts: Pedagogic Challenges among many other short events. Besides these the alumnibkcac has also planned to financially support the upcoming young artists those aspire to grow and need proper guidance and direction.

On the occasion of Utkal Dibas, the alumnibkcac is organising a sketching workshop Chitra Murchhana, at Bibhuti Kanungo College of Fine Art & Crafts, Bhubaneswar on 1st of April 2009. In this event, the old students, present students, teachers of art colleges, connoisseurs and art lovers of the city will participate to mark the occasion. The alumni firmly believe in spreading the aesthetic understanding of the common into extraordinary experience. This is one of the ways; one could involve and interact with the public in meaningful manner, above all the society too needs to develop a taste for the art. The alumnibkcac also is planning to bring to the city, public art as a part of the silver jubilee events and redefine the state of art in Orissa. In recent months artistic activities have proportionately grown in Bhubaneswar and alumnibkcac has contributed substantially to it.

Come, let us join together, the artists and the common man, though we may not build another Konark, but we could dare rebuild and represent our own great tradition of aesthetic value that mark our identity.
Vande Utkala Janani.

Strike ends at Utkal University of Culture

BHUBANESWAR: The city-based Utkal University of Culture is set to re-open on Monday with the withdrawal of the ongoing strike by the staff and the students on Sunday. This development is a follow-up to the resignation of the Vice-Chancellor Sadhu Charan Panda earlier this week.
While the employees of the University had gone for a pen-down strike since January 3 pressing for a “fair deal” from the authorities, the students locked the campus since February 2 demanding due infrastructure, study environment and resignation of the Vice-Chancellor against whom they had levelled a series of charges.
The agitating students have further met the Governor and the UGC chairman in New Delhi over the matter.
Utkal University of Culture students’ union president Kanta Kishore Moharana told The Hindu that the union leaders were invited by the Commissioner of Culture and the registrar of the university on Saturday for a discussion that resulted in withdrawal of the strike. 18 demands
“We have 18 demands and we have obtained a written assurance from the university authorities that they would meet those demands,” he added.
Similarly, the Commissioner and the registrar held a separate discussion with the employees on Saturday following which they agreed to resume their duty on Monday, the leaders of the employees union said.
Source: The Hindu

Art and Culture News Orissa : Students of Utkal University of Culture locked main gate

Report by Dipti Ranjan Kanungo; Bhubaneswar:

The students of Utkal University of Culture locked the main gate of the University on Monday demanding basic facilities like permanent faculty,own building, and classrooms, instruments for practical subjects and hostels etc.

The students adopted the protest in a different way . They came with musical instruments and sang song s in front of the university gate.They alleged that the Vice-chancellor has not been doing any developmental work of the university and demanded his removal from the post immediately.The funds of the university has been misutilised and mismanaged with the knowledge of the Vice-Chancellor. The university is running on signboard only.Temporary employees of the university are also sitting on indefinite dharana in front of the university gate along with the students.

President of the students association Utkal University of Culture Kanta Kishore Moharana said “ This is the high time for the government to take immediate steps to revive the university.”
The Registrar of the University Hara Prasad Patnaik said “ some of the demands of the students are genuine.The university must have minimum academic atmosphere.’

Orissa film awards for 2007 announced; Jayadev Award for Ramchandra Pratihari

Report by Suchismita Sahoo; Bhubaneswar:

Orissa Government today announced state film awards for 2007. It was announced by Culture minister Surya Narayan Patro here on Sunday. Versatile actor Ramachandra Pratihari would be conferred the prestigious Jayadev award, regarded as the highest honour for cinema in Orissa for his outstanding contribution.The best film award of the year has been bagged by Dhauli Express, which also won awards for best music, best male playback singer and best art direction. Tumaku Paruni ta Bhuli directed by Chakradhar Sahu won the highest number of awards for best direction, best actress, best lyrics, best supporting actor and special jury award. Sabyasachi was adjudged the best actor for Pagal Premi , while Ameli bagged the best actress award for her performance in Tumaku Paruni ta Bhuli . The best music director award was bagged by Chittaranjan Tripathy for his music in Dhauli Express. The awards are scheduled to be presented at a function on February 13.

News Source: orissadiary

AlumniBKCAC organises young painters show at barbil

You are cordially invited to young painters show at Barbil Keonjhar from 6th to 8th.feb.2009
Have a Creative Day!!

Visit our website

http://www.alumnibkcac.org/

P.S. BKCAC stands for Bibhuti Kanungo College of Art and Crafts

Pradosh Mishra and his Doctoral research on Emerging Trends in Contemporary Indian Painting

PRADOSH MISHRA

Associate Professor, Department of History of ArtFaculty of Arts,

Banaras Hindu UniversityVaranasi-221005

Topic of Doctoral Research
Emerging Trends in Contemporary Indian Painting during 1990 and 2004: A Study in the perspective of Globalisation and National IdentityArea of SpecialisationContemporary Indian Art, Traditional Sculpture Workshop in OrissaFieldworkSince 1994 documenting living and working conditions of Master Artists, their behaviour and attachment to the traditional stone carving workshops in Lalitagiri, Bhubaneswar, Puri in Orissa and Mathura.
Seminar Participation and Papers presented

Contemporary Indian Art: New Imagery and the Question of Identity, paper presented in absentia in NAFA Symposium on New Asian Imaginations, Singapore, 2008Possibilities of Lacquer in Contemporary Art as a medium: New Dimensions, National Seminar on Lac in Indian Art and Culture, Balasore, Orissa, 2007The Living Tradition of Stone Carving in Orissa: Texts and their present Relevance with reference to Master Artist Khirod Chandra Maharana of Lalitagiri, National Seminar on Silpa Texts and its Relevance, Jnana Pravaha, Varanasi, 2003Shift in Stone Workshop Practices- a case study in Lalitagiri, National Seminar on Art Practices in India Today, Bhubaneswar, 2001Traditional Linkage in Contemporary Orissan Art: Towards a Regional Vocabulary, National Seminar in Millennium Multimedia manifestation, Bhubaneswar, 1999Concept of time in Dancing Sculptures of Konarka, International Symposium on Sculpture and Dance, Varanasi, 1999Urban Experience of the Contemporary Artists of Orissa with reference to Working Artists Association, National Seminar on Urban Image in Contemporary Indian Art, Faculty of Visual Arts, BHU, Varanasi, 1998

Himalayan Landscape Painting by some Contemporary Indian Painters: An Observation on treatment of Space, National Seminar on Himalayan Glory, Allahabad Museum, Allahabad, 1998Participated as an Observer in the National Seminar on Terms and terminologies in Indian Art, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1994Primordial Influence on the Paintings of some Contemporary Painters of Orissa, National Seminar on Primitive Vigour as a part of Festival of India to Moscow, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1991Importance of Art Education in Primary Schools in Orissa, State Seminar on the Status of Art Education in Orissa, Bhubaneswar, 1989Contemporary Art Situation in Orissa, National Seminar on the Contemporary Art and Artists of Orissa, 1988

Awarded by Orissa Media Centre, Sunanda Pathy Foundation and Bhubaneswar Sahitya Samaj for Art Historical Studies and Art Criticism in Orissa, 1997State Award for Painting, Working Artists Association of Orissa, Bhubaneswar, 1997Chhanda Caharan memorial State Award, 1997Award for Best Painting and Cartoon in Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1994

Exhibitions Participated: Working Artists Association, OrissaState Lalit Kala Akademi, OrissaRashtriya Kala Mela, BangaloreRegional Art Exhibition, BangaloreState Level Art Exhibition by All India Fine Art and Crafts Society, New DelhiBeyond the Shores, Rabindra Bhawan, New DelhiSpring is Not Over, Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Chandigarh

Solo Exhibition : WASH, Watercolour Painting Exhibition held at Hotel Oberoi and Hotel Kalinga Ashoka, Bhubaneswar, Orissa

Pradosh Kumar Mishra received his education in Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh and Varanasi. He completed his Doctoral research on Emerging Trends in Contemporary Indian Painting, a Study in the Perspective of Globalisation and National Identity from 1990 to 2004.He has produced an audio-visual documentary on Two Contemporary Painters of Orissa for National Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in 1993, and has extensively documented various living Master Artists, their behaviour and attachment to the traditional stone carving workshops in Lalitagiri, Bhubaneswar, Puri and Mathura in Orissa (India) under the project Workshop Tradition of Orissan Sculpture from 1994 to 2000.Mishra also co-authored a monograph entitled Chandrasekhar Rao: Life and Work, published articles on Contemporary Art in publications entitled Bronze (2006), Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom (2001), Oddiyan (1997), Beyond the Shores (1995), and Tribal Art: Primitivism and Modern Relevance (1990).He has presented papers at several national seminars on art historical studies and participated in an international symposium on sculpture and dance, organised by Ram Chhatpar Shilp Nyas (1999), and Art Interaction, organised by Indo-German Art Forum (2003) at Varanasi.
Pradosh Mishra is an alumni of BKCAC and he is working as a Exceutive member of the organization

AlumniBKCAC

City Office : Plot-132 1st Floor,Forest park, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India, Pin-751009

Campus Office : B.K.College of Art and Crafts,Tapovana,KhandagiriBhubaneswar, Orissa, India, Pin-751030

Web : http://www.alumnibkcac.org/

Adwaita Gadanayak: The Commonwealth Scholar

Adwaita Gadanayak
Adwaita Gadanayak
BFA: B.K.College of Art and Crafts, Bhubaneswar-89
MFA: Delhi College of Art, New Delhi-92
Post Graduate: Slade School of Fine Art, London -95
Scholarship: Commonwealth -93
Triennale-2001
The installations in this Triennale which observed the norms of art and not flouted them, were those like the ones by the sculptor from Orissa, Adwaita Gadanayak, in a work titled Soul, a genuine piece where full justice would seem to have been done to a hallowed word. Here potent idea and the created image were finely, very precisely dovetailed, in order to build up a convincing metaphor…Keshab Mallik

Gandhi Musuem, New DelhiAmong the outdoor displays, a full-scale replica of Hriday Kunj, the residence of Mahatma Gandhi and his wife Kasturba in Satyagraha Ashram at Sabarmati where they lived from 1918 to 1930, the seated sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi, Adwaita Gadanayak's black marble stone of Mahatma Gandhi followed by some of the Marchers on the famous Salt March and the replica of famous Bose's woodcut 'Walk Alone' carving in cement are surely a feast for the eyes of visitors.
Adwaita Gadanayak is an alumni of BKCAC and he is working as President of the organization.
AlumniBKCAC
City Office : Plot-132 1st Floor,Forest park, Bhubaneswar-751009
Campus Office : B.K.College of Art and Crafts,Tapovana,KhandagiriBhubaneswar-751030 Web : http://www.alumnibkcac.org/
Ashok Art Gallery is proud to be a part of this Silver Jubilee Celebration

Pratul Dash, alumni of BKCAC

Pratul Dash
Bachelor of Fine Arts, B.K. College of Arts & Crafts, Bhubaneswar, India, 1995
M.F.A (Painting), College of Art, New Delhi, India, 1998Important scholarship :2004 UNIDEE in residency
Born: Burla, Sambalpur, Orissa

The Horror Show is an installation against violence. The viewer is invited to sit down at a table and browse through the images in a photo album. The photos are, however, not of the kind we are used to finding in somebody's home, but depict victims of massacres and wars. From hidden speakers in the room we can hear people crying and suffering. The sound was recorded on location in Nepal, but has been distorted with the help of Peter Verwimp in order not to belong to one particular place, but to be universal. These issues are not only confined to Nepal, India or the Middle East, it's something that concerns all of us, everywhere. Next to the photo album, the viewer can find paper and pens and write down his/her opinions on the matter. Pratul will later send these letters to the UN.Pratul has also worked on a proposal for the design of Illy Cafe coffee cups and plates. The cups and plates are decorated with photos of the thumbs of people from different classes of society, of different colours, religions, professions, and so on. The cup of coffee therefore becomes a meeting-place where social aspects are no longer relevant and Pratul hopes it will help to bridge the gaps between people.

He has also been thinking a lot about the relationship between architecture and human beings. All buildings have their own history and he's interested in studying how we react to it.The works done during Pratul’s formative years exemplified his existential dilemmas in a sharper way. He made his self portrait in various postures, at times going to the levels of contortionism. These portraits were seen against the backdrop of barren lands and abandoned city scapes. The sparsely inhabited cities become a metaphor for him to emphasize his angst as a lonely man who traverses through un-chartered paths. The egg shaped forms, or melting ice forms blown up beyond the point of reality gagged his portraits that forced him into a struggle of muteness. He vocalized his concerns through these mute and mutant images.His sustained interest in postmodern theories and various articulations of these has taken Pratul Dash to make a lot of works on paper also. His water colours deal with the particularities of an urban space; especially the displacement of the self and body in relationship with the animal imageries that are seen quite unnatural in the naturalness of the urban aloofness. The animals that abundantly come to play a dominant role in the pictorial renditions of Pratul Dash underline the unnatural existence of the human beings within the alienated modern and post modern urban locales.A series of paintings on contortionism has helped Pratul to bring in his observations on the dilemma of contemporary lives. Also the recent video works that he had done when he was in Italy and later in New Delhi show his engagement with the spaces of commodities and commodification. Extensive footages of malls and mannequins are edited skillfully to create a hyper reality that corresponds to the erotic and ethical instincts of the consumer man. These videos function as a field of retrospection and introspection rather than an active critique on accentuated consumerism.

One of his video works that Pratul has specially prepared for his major solo exhibition shows the artist in his native village in Orissa. He is seen in an act of tying himself with a thread, which could be a sacred thread that demarcates his caste position, around his head and face. The violent action with which he ties himself turns his face into a distorted mass and the untying of the thread leaves a mesh of markings on the skin. It looks like a body drawing, using body as the medium and surface. Like a Chris Burden or Vito Acconci he inflicts pain on himself to eke out a meaning of affection, infliction and restoration.Pratul in his concept note on this work states: “One might get a strange sense of relief as the performance unwinds and the distorted image of the face gains balance. What remain are the marks of the string’s path of punishment and an extremity of detachment and peace in the end. It is a kind of come back for me in my native land.” This coming back (of a not so prodigal son) is substantiated by further enactment of the same action in artificial situations, edited and incorporated into the main body of the video work. Pratul Dash is a painter who cares for the environment and his fellow humans, and uses his canvas to voice his cares. Every work of art is a window to its makers’ beliefs — aesthetic, political, philosophical...whatever. In the case of Pratul Dash, that window is wide open. You can see Dash’s engagement with social and political issues affecting the country all over the canvases, photographs and videos .Large vistas of bare landscapes; geometrical blocks evocative of the concrete maze our cities have become today; scaffoldings, ladders and pipelines that seem to stretch into infinity — these are recurring tropes in Dash’s work, used to signal the paradoxes of urbanisation, of the country’s headlong rush towards Western-style development, leading to the depletion of forests and alienation of individuals. “I have nothing against the growth of the country, but my concern is with the cost of it,” Pratul Dash says.

Pratul says that during his stay in Nepal he could see the pain in the eyes of people. The day he got there he saw the news on TV about the massacre of a family. Pratul went the following day with an artist friend to scene of the crime, the only survivors were the mother and her two-year-old child. It was a shocking and difficult sight. He strongly believes that silence is not a solution to these situations and he has continued working on these matters to bring the issue in front of an international community and ask for our direct participation. Working at Cittadellarte has helped Pratul realise that it is possible to create networks and move art out of the galleries and into society. It's the artist's duty to deal with social issues. Besides many exhibitions in India, his works are exhibited at USA, UK, ITALY, HONG KONG and DUBAI.
Pratul Dash is one of alumni BKCAC and working as Executive Member of the Organization
AlumniBKCAC
http://www.alumnibkcac.org/