Inauguration of Kalpana - Masterpieces of Figurative Indian Contemporary
Paintings by
Hon. Smt Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Rep.of India
Fine Arts Gallery, Mahatma Gandhi Institute
Monday 18 January 2010, 12.30 hrs,
Speech of Hon. Minister Vasant K. Bunwaree,
Minister of Education, Culture & Human Resources
Hon. Smt Meira Kumar, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Rep.of India
Hon. Rajkeswur Purryag, Speaker, National Assembly
Mr. R. Dwarka, Chairman, Mahatma Gandhi Institute
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me much pleasure to be here TODAY to address this gathering of
distinguished guests especially in the presence of Hon. Shrimati Meira Kumar,
Speaker of the Lok Sabha, India.
Madam, I seize this opportunity to wish you a most pleasant and enjoyable stay in
our midst. We are indeed honoured by your presence here this afternoon.
Ladies and gentlemen, the exhibition of Kalpana – Masterpieces of Figurative
Indian Contemporary Paintings is no ordinary occasion as our country happens to
be one of the selected destinations where it is being displayed. It is my earnest wish
that both students and lovers of art take advantage of this boon. It will be a voyage of
discovery for one and all.
Ladies and gentlemen, a child and an artist bides in everyone of us. It, therefore,
behoves us to develop our sensibilities so that we may enjoy and appreciate the
beauty – both God-given and created by man – that makes of the world a place
where living is an enjoyable experience.
Oscar Wilde, the Anglo-Irish playwright and poet, has rightly said and I quote: It is
through Art, and through Art only, that we can realize our perfection; through Art, and
through Art only, that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual
existence. Unquote.
Today, the Indian art market is among the fastest developing ones in the world.
Some paintings of Indian artists whose creations are featured in this exhibition, have
fetched millions of dollars on the global art market and even in India. Art curators and
art specialists are all keen to see Indian artists participating in international art
shows.
It is not enough repeated that India is one of the few countries in the world with an
unbroken art history of at least five thousand years. In spite of various invasions and
colonization, all foreign influences over the sub-continent have been assimilated into
something uniquely Indian.
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Today, Indian art – in artistic and critical quality as well as in financial terms – owes
much of its success to this resilience and openness to novel ideas. Right from the
beginning of the 20th century, Indian artists have been contributing decisively in
nation-building.
The Bengal Renaissance with the Tagore family at its core, and, subsequently,
successive waves of modern visionaries ensured that culture did not remain focused
on the past. For many people engaged in visualising the image of a new India, Indian
art had to engage with modernity, wrestle with it, define it in Indian terms.
The fruit these combined efforts bore was a modern Indian art that had nothing to
envy from that of any other nation.
As long as the artist lives, he will write, paint and chisel, among other things. These
art forms, like thinking, have become a reflective action. The artist is a creator and
painting is a creative art form. In the field of painting, a few famous names that come
to the mind are Vincent Van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Amrita Shergil, Pablo
Picasso and Rabindranath Tagore, amongst others.
Painting is similar to any other form of expression. On his or her canvas the painter
pours out his/her soul to translate his/her vision of the world from an artistic
perspective.
By means of colours, the palette and the brush, the painter may give expression to
the beauty inherent in the universe, decry exploitation or depict any form of ugliness
for life can be terrible or gay.
The painter can also give another dimension to life. He has the capacity to transport
us, be it for some moments, from the limitations of mundane life to another plane
where the mind rises above matter.
The artist thus has an important role to play in contemporary society where the good
mingles with the bad… the beautiful with the ugly…He teaches us that we can rise
above what is bad and that there is always hope that good will vanquish evil and
beauty will prevail.
What is more, on his canvas the painter gives expression to what flows from his
mind in the process of creation. The artist’s vision of life certainly differs from that of
the layman.
At the level of my Ministry, we are encouraging creativity in its various forms and the
response so far has been very encouraging. I believe that art, in its broadest
expression, is the soul of a nation. In fact, art should form an integral part of our life.
Man does not live on bread alone.
You may be aware that my Ministry is providing training in different art forms,
including painting, through short-term courses, free of charge.
Moreover, our Assistance Scheme provides financial assistance for the mounting of
an exhibition whereas assistance can also be given for participation in international
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events. By the way, art is on our school curriculum up to tertiary level and students
can make a career in that subject if they so wish.
I wish to thank the Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture, the High Commission of
India and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for providing us the opportunity to appreciate
these masterpieces of Figurative Indian Contemporary Paintings.
I reiterate the wish that this exhibition will inspire our artists as well as lovers of
beauty at large. I am told that many of the illustrious names in this exhibition have
influenced the hearts and minds of Mauritian artists who have studied in India in
Tagore’s Shantiniketan or elsewhere.
Artists are fortunate souls who are endowed with the skills to convey their ideas and
feelings on paper or canvas with a paint brush, or carve them on stone or wood
using hammer and chisel.
Artistic creations have the power to arrest attention and provoke reactions of
different types in the viewer. I am thankful to all those artists whose creations are on
display here for stirring our inner-self.
It is an inspiration to us Mauritians that, in spite of the challenges it is faced with, as
a nation, India has encouraged its artists and given them the means to nurture a
strong, culturally diverse and powerful imagination.
Indeed, this is India’s modern culture: an imagination aware and respectful of the
past for its wealth of wisdom; an imagination that comes to term with the challenges
we face in the present and an imagination whose legacy is a culture of hope and
tolerance.
I would like to end with another saying from Oscar Wilde. It goes to the effect that
Art is immortal! Indeed, it took its beginnings from the dawn of civilization and has
outlived generations and generations as it is looking towards the future. Thanks to it,
time stands still and moments become eternal. We also come to realize that “Beauty
is truth, truth beauty” and that “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever” as the Romantic
poet, John Keats puts it so succinctly.
I hope that every visitor will leave the stands inspired by the sheer beauty of the art
works on display and animated with the firm determination to accommodate an art
form in his life.
I thank you for your attention.
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