Artists to pay tribute to Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

Music lovers attending the 59th chapter of Sawai Gandharv Sangeet Mahotsav that begins today will miss the late music maestro Pt Bhimsen Joshi this year. Several artists, however, have decided to pay tribute to the legend in their own special ways.u00a0

Sculptor Sharad Kapuskar will display a sculpture of the maestro at the venue, while Sateesh Paknikar will release a book Swaradhiraj Bhimsen, which is a compilation of 50 rare pictures of Pandit Joshi, along with a calendar based on the theme Singing Strings. Apart from this, Ram Wairkar, a noted caricature artist, has decided to display six caricatures of the singing maestro at the five-day music festival.u00a0

As a token of respect to the Pandit, the organisers of the programme Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal have also changed the name of the festival to Sawai Gandharv Bhimsen Mahotsav.u00a0Kapuskar, who has been attending the Sawai festival for several years, had created a sculpture of Pt Joshi in 1998. This sculpture will be displayed at the venue in Ramanbaug New English School, Shaniwar Peth.u00a0

"Pt Joshi was a humble and a lovable person. I made this sculpture at his residence. The same sculpture was selected for the 2007 exhibition in London by Sculpture Society of Portrait Culture. I am pleased to display my work of art at the festival," he said.

Paknikar, a noted industrial photographer and music lover, has captured over 25,000 expressions of more than 400 musicians in the past three decades. "My book is a compilation of 50 rare and beautiful pictures of Pt Bhimsen along with his thoughts on music, since 1984," he said.u00a0Shrinivas Joshi, son of Pandit Joshi, said that a unique expression of the Pandit captured by noted media photographer late Hemant Pithwa, 15 years ago, would also be put up on the Sawai Gandharv dais.u00a0

The 9 sqft frame of the picture is donated by Kolkata based industrialist Jayant Chaterjee as a tribute.u00a0A special exhibition ofu00a0caricatures of various singers shall also be on display at the venue. Ram Wairkar, noted caricature artist, said, "It was fun to draw caricatures of the Pt Joshi. We will miss theu00a0maestro."