Book Review (Spotlight Weekly)

ART
Focus On Faith

Prominent artists from India and Nepal exhibit their works to generate awareness about the Bamiyan Buddhas

By A CORRESSPONDENT

Although India and Nepal share a common religion and culture, few steps have been taken to bring elements of this singularity to the fore. Siddartha Art Gallery has organized a couple of exhibitions, and many others seem to be in the pipeline.

Whether it was the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan, the Angkor Wat in Cambodia, religious sites like Swargadwari or the repository of ancient collections of Sanskrit sculpture at the Mahendra Sanskrit University in Dang, centers of religious and cultural richness around the world are increasingly becoming easy targets of terrorism.

Bamiyan Buddha : Cultural symbol

A group of senior Indian artists realized the need to generate public awareness on the importance of such sites and the need to preserve them. Although the destruction of religious and cultural sites in bigger countries receives international attention, many other cases go unnoticed. In this context, the initiative taken by the Indian artists is commendable.

The Indian artists displayed their drawings and paintings at a show titled "Sphote, a creative protest", organized by Siddartha Art Gallery and the Habiart Foundation. Sphote is the Hindi word for creative sound.

Following the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas by the fundamentalist Taliban regime in Afghanistan in March last year, artists and cultural luminaries have been organizing programs to generate awareness about the importance of such artifacts.

The Bamiyan Buddhas, created 1,500 years ago, were regarded as largest statues of the Buddha ever built. Various groups are showing a keen interest in restoring the Bamiyan Buddhas to their original glory. The exhibition organized by the Indian artists can be expected to promote the cause.

"By launching Sphote from India, we seek to reinforce and remind people that such acts of cultural aggression are not acceptable in today's world. Siddartha Art Gallery seeks to represent the public and artistic outcry against the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas, keeping in mind that if we do not remember history we will be condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past," said Sangeeta Thapa, executive director of Siddartha Art Gallery.

Inaugurated by Ian Baker, writer, photographer, explorer and Tibet specialist, the exhibition is part of a series of work to muster support for the restoration of the Bamiyan Buddhas. Senior Indian artists like Satish Gandhi, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das, Jogen Choudhury, Rameshar Broota, Vasundhara Tiwari, Sudip Roy, Suneeta Chopra took part in the initiative. They have undertaken creative action in the main centers of contemporary art in India, New Delhi and Santi Niketan, Kolkata.

The target is to have a hundred works of art. According to Sphote, 74 works have already been created on small one-foot canvasses and rice paper.

In December 2001, Siddartha Art Gallery presented "Bamiyan Buddhas - Icon of Peace, Hope and Renewal", an exhibition dedicated to creating awareness about the desecration of an icon of faith and the senseless destruction of a heritage monument. "As the Taliban regime has now been ousted, and peace is coming back slowly to Afghanistan, one can hope to see the renovation of the temple," Thapa said.

The works of such eminent Nepalese artists as Basta Gopal Vaidya, Shashi Bikram Shah, Shashikala Tiwari, Kiran Manandhar, Govinda Dongol, Surendra Bhattarai, Bijaya Thapa, Raj Manandhar Ujwal Kundan Jyapoo, Ragini Upadhya-Grela, Ashmina Ranjit and Prakaash Chandwadkar were also displayed.