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Kangra Art School preserving miniature paintings
by Akhilesh
Bharti
Dharamshala:
Kangra Art Museum in Himachal Pradesh is making
an endeavour to save the miniature paintings showcasing
Kangra art form in a special way. The single art school
of its own kind is being run in the museum for children
and youth aged between 14 to 30 years. It is training
many youngsters in Kangra Art form and also enabling
them for self-employment. These art students are learning
basic techniques of Kangra Art and getting familiar
with this extra ordinary centuries old art form and
its beautiful color combination and representation
techniques. The art classes were started here in the
year of 2002 with the efforts of department of language
and culture and the district administration, when
a scheme from the centre government was approved to
promote the Kangra Art and to teach this art. Located
in Dharamshala, Kangra Art museum has treasured the
artefacts and paintings dating back to the 5 century.
There is a separate gallery in this museum that is
devoted only to the Kangra paintings. "Kangra art
is a world renowned art form, it has brought fame
and glory to the whole country. But because of a long
hiatus this art form has lost its sheen," said Ramesh
Chandra, a curator of Kangra Art Museum. Students
at the Kangra Art school, meanwhile, are enjoying
learning basic techniques of this art form and increasing
their familiarty with this centuries old art form.
"I am making a Kangra painting, these are miniature
paintings. These paintings are extremely detailed
piece of work. Most of these paintings are devoted
to Radha-Krishna. We use natural colours only while
making these paintings," said Monu Kumar, a student.
Kangra paintings also known as Pahari painting, were
patronised by Rajput rulers between the 11th and 19th
century.
The
most popular theme of Kangra painting was inspired
by the eternal love pair Radha-Krishna. A striking
feature of Kangra Art form lies in the use of different
shades of green. These paintings present feminism
in a very elegant fashion, as features depicted are
usually soft and subtle. Greenery and naturalism is
strongly depicted in Kangra paintings. In 2003, this
school did a wonderful job by coming forward with
a unique idea of teaching this art to 10 deaf and
dumb children. Visitors to the museum also visit the
sale center and purchase the paintings of these students.
"We had heard about the Kangra paintings, that's why
we came here to this museum to see these miniature
paintings. We saw children learning these paintings,
we went inside to see these paintings and picked up
one piece of art," said Alen, an Australian tourist.
The Kangra Art Promotion Society is doing wonderful
work to get Kangra art recognized and appreciated.
-Dec
25, 2008
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