Implanting a Seed: The Department of Visual Arts at the University in Kalyani
Ritendra Roy
A quiet nondescript place situated near to sixty kilometers from the heart of the Kolkata city lies the rural-urban conglomerate township of Kalyani. It was developed by the West Bengal Government in 1950 under the initiative of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, the second Chief Minister of West Bengal who also established the University of Kalyani in 1960. Over the years the University has earned a distinct place in the educational map of our country, and is accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) under the UGC, Government of India with an “A” grade. The progress on higher education and research has made the University to periodically expand its areas of studies. Among the many steps that were taken, the one in 2008 assumes significance in the context of my write-up here and in the development of shaping a tradition which has a rich history arising from the soil of this region.
In 2008 the University decided to introduce a two-year post-graduate course in the area of visual arts. This was initiated under the Faculty of Music and Fine Arts which was formed simultaneously to open the Department of Visual Arts under which the course could be implemented. In its formative years the Department was operated by temporary visiting eminent persons from the relevant field of study. It was in 2012 that the Department was provided with teaching positions reflecting its long term goals. This was immensely beneficial for the development and progress. The young incumbents Bibekananda Mukherjee, Ritendra Roy, Khokon Raut and Biswajit Mitra, all contemporary practitioners in the area of visual arts with considerable expertise in teaching and administrative methods took upon the task to build the Department in the context of the modern outlook. Initially the Department was housed outside the main campus, but in the Kalyani town, where the Department of Education is situated. This temporary arrangement gave way to a permanent infrastructure built by the University within the main campus area in 2016. The Department shifted to its new base in June 2017 and its building named Charukala Bhavan was also inaugurated.
Release of Kalyani Magazine: VC of Kalyani University and Chittravanu Majumder
Students participating in a Traditional Pata Painting workshop
The two-year post-graduate (M.F.A) degree course in Painting conducted by the Department concentrates on both the traditional and new aspects of practical exploration in this field. The course creates the scope for different dimensions of technical expertise and motivates the students for critical enquiry of the works done in the class-rooms. Concern about the environment, social and cultural issues as well as knowledge of history is stressed upon. Besides the objective of academic oriented tasks, stress is also laid upon future professional advancement of the students. The extension of academic guidance is also provided through the Ph.D. course at the Department. Finding solutions for the questions that continuously probe the mind can act as invaluable resource tools for the objectivity of art practice and its purposeful study. The foundation for the principles of this kind of education is laid upon the knowledge of visual imagination obtained through an integration of the conceptual identity of one’s response towards life and nature along with the incorporation of necessary technical skills and an engagement with textual matter. Our role as teachers of the Department has always been to motivate the students to build self assurance. This helps them to chalk out their path based upon their findings. The students of the Department have achieved considerable success in the professional field. They have been recognized with awards, and their works have been selected in important exhibitions in the country. The commitment of the teachers to this task of guiding the students has made this possible for the path ahead.
Outdoor sculptural assemblage
Work of Sefali Kar
Santanu Debnath - Land Art
The kind of institutional functioning nowadays requires the task of an art professor to be of multifarious nature. It includes imparting lessons to students as a guide and at the same time take upon the role of an administrator for proper functioning of the various activities concerned with the department and the university. Awareness of different approaches has put the emphasis from the question of how to do it to the questions of what to do and why. These issues are being posed and deliberated in classrooms, faculty committees and administration offices. Though instruction has definable ends, the means of achieving them are worth acquiring. Confidence has to be given to both students and teachers to reassess determined ends for the benefit of change. The principles of visual art education adopted in an institution are very different from those taken up with respect to other academic programmes. It is also different from those adopted in a school or training centre meant for the special instruction of the artisan in his or her own business. Hence the operative structure of such a course depends much upon the shared concerns and cooperative approach of faculty members along with the university administrators. I have no hesitation in saying that this approach with respect to the running of our Department at Kalyani has given us the impetus to adapt to the changing situations and apply requisite skills for taking decisions.
Designing a concept and communicating an idea requires the integration of training, communication and awareness with regard to the methodological structure of art practice. It is imperative that certain aspects like adequate space (both indoor and outdoor), well-stocked library, encouragement of the students for participation in collaborative work through various events and exhibitions displaying their practical experiments, interaction with professionals through seminars and workshops are some among the many that are always necessary for the overall development. At Kalyani we have successfully created this space for such sourcing of materials and cross-cultural working. A rewarding experience depends much upon these important criterions for developing the curriculum and to extend the traditional borders of the discipline. Divergent aesthetic convictions may be propagated not only through the professor’s wisdom or experience but also on student-to-student dialogue. An atmosphere of freedom needs to be stimulated for a meaningful evaluation of an approach. This is what eventually works as guidance. The principle of arts training is not to produce artists but to provide provisions under which this engagement can become enlightening. Thus taking account of both the personal and cultural contexts, our pedagogic vision should help the dominant culture to absorb new aesthetics, concepts, practices and technologies which will build upon the experience and guide the new entrants.
(Ritendra Roy is an Associate Professor at the Department of Visual Arts, University of Kalyani. He is a practicing artist and researcher and has contributed many articles in different magazines. He is a resident of Kolkata.)