Off and on, exhibitions of prints happening in the city faintly suggest a slight revival in the medium but not in a long time has Delhi seen an exercise on a mammoth scale such as “Celebrating Indigenous Printmaking”, held by National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA).
The premier institution of modern art in the country has culled out 300 sterling prints from its collection. Featuring 100 artists, the show documents the history of printmaking from the colonial period till the contemporary times representing every printmaking technique. At a time when there are a “very few true printmakers left and limited knowledge of printmaking”, Rajiv Lochan, Director, NGMA, felt it necessary to mount such an exhibition in order to show the diversity of the medium and limitless possibilities around it.
The exhibition starts with the relief section which has one of the most iconic images from our struggle for Independence–– that of Mahatma Gandhi walking, holding a stick during the Dandi March –– a linocut by Nandlal Bose. It moves on to include other masterpieces by Haren Das, Mukul Dey, Ramkinkar Baij and Somnath Hore. For those who have never seen a print of S.H.Raza, it is an opportunity to see one, a 1971 graphic titled “Bangladesh” on liberation of East Pakistan.
There are small clusters of works by artists who worked dedicatedly towards the medium like Mukul Chandra Dey, a student of the Bichitra Club founded by Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore and Samarendranath Tagore to explore new forms of painting and printmaking with woodcuts and lithography. Such tender etchings of his are a delight to watch. A few works of Jyoti Bhatt, one of India’s most eminent printmakers, are also part of the show, as are those of his teachers’ at M.S.University — N.S.Bendre and K.G.Subramanyan. There is a talk planned as well for Bhatt at NGMA early November.
While talking of prints, one can’t forget stalwarts like Jagmohan Chopra and his Group 8 , with students like Anupam Sud –– one of the few true practitioners of the medium around today. There are other noteworthy names as well like Dhanraj Bhagat, Shanti Dave, Devraj Dhakoji, Pratibha Dhakoji, Laxman Pai, Zarina Hashmi, Lalita Lajmi, Rini Dhumal, Subba Ghosh, Gogi Saroj Pal, Krishna Devyani and works by M.F.Husain, F.N.Souza.
“A special section has been dedicated to international prints from NGMA’s collection which were made in India by Bulgarian artist Borislav Stoev, German artist Dieter Kraimer and Robert Rauschenberg.
To make the exhibition educative, NGMA has tied up with College of Art, Delhi and presents texts, journals, printmaking tools that give an overview of printmaking practices, techniques and developments in the last two centuries. Films related to the subject are being screened daily , and workshops willbe organised soon.
Continuing with its multi-disciplinary approach, NGMA is mounting a retrospective of architect Balkrishna Doshi from October 9 onwards. ‘Celebrating Habitat’ would celebrate the veteran architect’s six decades of work through photographs, talks, films etc.
