Art possesses the power to cleanse impurities of the human soul: Muzaffar Ali
Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust in association with Art Tree organised Tulika – A Symposium on Art, an open discussion on various nuances of Art and its many facets.
The event held at the Oxford Book Store on Saturday, served as a platform for panel discussions on the preservation and promotion of various art forms, it’s relevance in today’s time and the urgency to popularize it amongst the masses, especially the youth.
Noted film maker, poet and artist Muzaffar Ali was the keynote speaker while Poonam Singh Jamwal, founder/chairperson Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust introduced Trust’s vision to create and support many more such platforms that help showcase creative talent and find innovative ways of sharing it across audiences.
The Trust is instituted in the memory of Kunwar Viyogi, celebrated Dogri poet who wrote Sahitya Akademi award winning long Poem titled ‘Ghar’. He used ‘Ghar’ (Home) as a peg and stringed together 238 four lines verses. It was quite a unique composition that managed to weave all the nuances of our worldly existence and its context and axis being the Home (Ghar). The poem presented something new to literature not only in Dogri but in Indian literary scene. ‘Ghar’ is used as a symbol of the centre of life, our hopes and fears, anxieties, achievements and failures, dreams and also a symphony of love. It was translated in Hindi this year on the first death anniversary of Kunwar Viyogi. The Trust has launched a series of scholarships, awards and events to promote young, innovative artists. Tulika, being one of the many series that will unfold throughout the year.
Muzaffar Ali, who inaugurated the event, said that art is such a powerful expression that it has the ability to heal souls that are otherwise struggling to exist in this cluttered world.
“Art is a savior. It makes you human by cleansing your soul. Our eyes shed tears when we are moved by any form of art. That happens because the art form, we silently appreciate touches a cord in our heart thus cleansing it of all the impurity that breeds within us.” He said that initiatives like Tulika and that pursued by Kunwar Viyogi Memorial Trust is a testimonial that no matter what the art form may be, its sustainability is determined by the love and appreciation it receives from the people.
Mrs Jamwal spoke about the poetic journey of the celebrated Dogri writer, who is the first and only Air Force officer in India to have won a Sahitya Akademi award. “Kunwar Viyogi’s work was studied by the students of Jammu University and such was the power of his writings that his Sonnets were equated to that of greats like Shakespeare and his poem Ghar to legendry poet Umar Khayaam,” informed Jamwal.
She said that being a daughter of an artist she has learnt to value, appreciate and promote art, irrespective of its form. “The object isn’t to make art. It’s to be in that wonderful state which makes art inevitable. Art, be it in any form comes from such spirit and blessing of God that it has to be appreciated and when we start appreciating an artist or even a co-artist, we are inspired, hence allowing new dimensions of creativity to emerge. The Trust is committed towards providing that platform to artists so that art form can be showcased, dialogue initiated in turn empowering people to understand the nuances of art and look for innovative platforms for such interactions in order to engage a wider audience.”
During the event, discussions which offered an insight into the topics being spoken about gave the audience an opportunity to interact with the artists and critics.
In the first session, the panelists, comprising of Satish Gupta, Seema Kohli and Jagannath Panda spoke about Liberal art and its growing presence in Indian artistic arena. The panel discussion was moderated by Sanjeeta Datta.
In the second session, Padamshree Shakir Ali, National Award winner Manisha Jha and Kalyan Joshi spoke at length about folk art and its future in India. The discussion was moderated by Arnab Banerjee.
Discussion in the final session revolved around Importance of forms in contemporary art. The panalists included Alka Raghuvanshi, Madhur Sen and Durga Kainthola. The discussion was moderated by Georgina Maddox.
Following the panel discussion, 15 art works were put on display and for sale by the artists. The show was curated by Pragati Agarwal of Art Tree.
- Event Place : Oxford Bookstore,Delhi
- Date : 19-11-2016
- Time : 11 : 00 PM
