Masterpieces for the Mahatma

When the name of a person is synonymous with the name of a country it is difficult to put into words the magnitude of their impact even long after their death So much so that even the call sheet for the funeral of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in Richard Attenboroughs 1982 awardwinning film Gandhi seems like a masterpiece in production with over 3 lakh extrasCloser home this Friday artisans from across the country will come together to showcase Bapus life and legacy through an exhibition at his residence during his visits to the city at Mani BhavanChoti Tekams Gond painting of the three wise monkeysAn initiative by the ExportImport EXIM Bank of India Relive the ideals of the Mahatma through Art is a twoday exhibition that aims to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary Comprising 25 artworks the show also displays 12 art forms including papier mache warli pattachitra gond and mata ni pachediAfter travelling to Delhi Pune Gujarat and Kolkata the sixth edition of the exhibition comes to Mumbai before it travels to London for a showcase at the Nehru Centre on October 2 We began conceptualising this in August last year commissioned paintings by also outsourcing it to an external agency and gave each of the artisans a brief But each had their own interpretation says David Rasquinha MD of the bankA Tanjore painting by Rama Sriram is representative of communal harmonyInterestingly the idea of the show germinated from the routine of preparing desk calendars The corporate communications group of the bank was ideating on how they could create unique calendars Under the banks wings they also had a programme to help artisans and people from disadvantaged backgrounds and had been conducting workshops So they were able to tap into their talent by commissioning artworksThe agency was only hired for lastmile engagement because as a bank we do not have the bandwidth to keep contacting all of them But we did do a fair bit of research and were also equipped to execute it since we have worked with artisans for corporate gifting he addsA deptiction of the Dandi yatra in Mata ni PachediEach piece will also be accompanied by text stating the art form artists name and where they come from as well as their reflections of the work For instance Bhopalbased artisan Choti Tekam who has been painting gond art for 18 years has rendered a unique interpretation of Gandhis three wise monkeys mdash with tigers instead in a jungleI completed this in one week My biggest learning from the Mahatma was his struggle for the truth It mirrors my struggle in the art world because it was a very slow start and has taken me a long time to get hereChoti TekamThrough the event upcoming artists like Tekam hope to find a platform Even for Chennaibased Rama Sriram a former bankerturnedTanjore artist marketing the art form is a huge task I havent promoted myself on social media yet so I sell my work only locally This is my first exhibition Few people are educated about Tanjore paintings and because of the use of gold foil it is only visible to the eliteDavid RasquinhaThis needs to be introduced in art and craft classes in school she explains The exhibition thus is only a way of introducing viewers to the broad spectrum of Indian art just like the Swadeshi movement that the Father of the Nation was at the forefront ofOn September 13 to 15 10 am to 5 pmAt Mani Bhavan 19 Laburnum Road GamdeviCall 23805864FreeRama SriramCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates