An art exhibition on the impact of Phailin Cyclone in Ganjam district by 25 children of the city was organised at Sahid Laxman Nayak community hall on Thursday.
It was an effort of noted artist Basant Patnaik to celebrate Children’s Day in a different manner.
A cultural organisation, Anwesha, arranged the event. A cultural show by schoolchildren was also organised to mark the occasion.
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Mr. Patnaik said, “Through this exhibition, I want to relate children with the realities of life and show how human beings always succeed in rebuilding their devastated life after any natural calamity.”
Over 200 works of art were displayed at the exhibition. Most of the child artists themselves experienced the extent of loss and impact of Phailin for the first time in their life.
Interestingly, their paintings were not gloomy. They were colourful even while depicting the suffering and hardship caused by the cyclone.
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“This shows the ray of hope and aspiration that is present in the sub-conscious level of every young mind,” said Mr. Patnaik.
Under his guidance, the child artists worked for almost three weeks after the cyclone to come up with the paintings. They used various media, from pencil to water colour, to portray the ground realities.
In some paintings, traditional styles such as ‘Mughal art’ and ‘patta chitra’ were used.
During the cultural function too, paintings played a key role in an act.
During a dance ballet performed to the tune of famous Odia patriotic song, ‘Bahi jayere Ganga’, a series 14 chosen paintings by the child artists were shown to the audience from the stage. These paintings depicted different stanzas and moods of the song.
Anwesha felicitated Mr. Patnaik during the function for his efforts to motivate children to depict on the canvas the happenings around them.