City-based artist Sangeeta Abhay has a reason to celebrate. She was featured in a BBC documentary called Civilisation , which was telecast in the US recently. The documentary has nine episodes and Sangeeta features in the third episode ‘God and Art’.
Sangeeta was born and brought up in Buldhana, a district very close to the World Heritage site of Ajanta and Ellora Caves in Aurangabad. Growing up amidst powerful traces of Buddhist culture, Sangeeta was inspired to assimilate it into her art practice later on. Today, Buddha, his life, and philosophy form the crux of Sangeeta's oeuvre.
The BBC was looking for a contemporary Indian artist inspired by ancient art and they zoned in on Sangeeta. The film shows her at the site, talking about the Buddha and his influence on her art. The documentary also shows her radiant oils and a Buddha sculpture made out of used computer keyboard keys, which the artist had exhibited at Gallery g in 2016.
A few months after the show, when Sangeeta was pre-occupied with her son’s admission in the Imperial College London, she got a call from the team behind the film. “I asked them to call me later as I was busy. The significance of the project did not register immediately which is why I just casually asked to be contacted later. And when they did so, I realised what it was. I was given a week’s time to pack all my art work and reach Ajanta. I carried 10 paintings and a couple of sculptures,” recalls the artist. Civilisation is a seminal project, supposedly shot in 31 countries and six continents. It is a new version of Civilisations , which was first presented in 1969 by Kenneth Clark. Here, well-known art historians Simon Schama, Mary Beard and David Olusoga present the nine-part series. It has been produced by BBC in association with PBS.
When she reached the site, she found about five or six crew members, including Johann Perry, director of photography, and 30 to 40 people from Delhi and Mumbai managing the logistics. “The director asked me to talk about Buddha and my work. They loved the Buddha and his disciple’s robe story and its connect with my Buddha made of computer keys. It is amazing that how someone 2,500 years ago was speaking about recycling,” expresses Sangeeta.
The artist feels Buddha not only gives her the strength to follow this path but has also blessed her with positivity. “I have such nice and positive people around me. I just had one week to pack all my work and couldn’t have done it without the support and help from Pushpa Dravid (artist and Rahul Dravid’s mother). It is because of Buddha that I met Gulzar Sahab and Shyam Benegal.”
The celebrated poet, lyricist and filmmaker is a follower of Buddha and one day he just called Sangeeta. “We were in touch before. I would send him pictures of my works, but one doesn't expect a call from him. So, when he called and said he wanted to write on my works, I was stunned. I packed my bags and reached Mumbai. I made prints of my works and then he wrote a couplet for each work.”
