WORLD ART DAY, 15 APRIL
Subhabrata Nandi
“Art is never finished – only abandoned”, so said the Renaissance genius-polymath Leonardo Da Vinci whose birthday 15th April, is observed most fittingly, by the International Association of Art, as World Art Day. The day is commemorated worldwide, as one that honours art, embraces multiculturalism and celebrates freedom of expression, universal brotherhood and world peace. Most importantly, it emphasizes the importance of art in all other streams of knowledge.
The current Corona pandemic has engulfed the world. It is a test of human endurance. Negativity, tension, fear, stress are words that frequent the scene. However, an artist cannot afford that. He has a social responsibility. He has to radiate positivity – something to bask from its reflected glory.
To make people aware of the role and importance of Art, every year a group of eminent Kolkatans from the art world, celebrates this April 15 as World Art Day or “Bishwa Shilpokala Dibash” in Kolkata which also happened to be the Bengali New Year’s Day. Visual artists from various spheres and streams got together to rejoice art. A colourful parade that includes tableaux, mobile art work, art installations and posters, all provided a stunning visual impact. “Chhau” dancers and women “dhakis” added adequate aural impetus to the procession.
But in April 2021, the current Covid-19 situation does not allow any parade. And being responsible citizens we should follow the Covid-19 Guidelines. So no colourful Art Parade or procession is being held this year. Even last year in 2020, no procession could be organized for the same reason.
Artists Forum of Bengal organized World Art Day Procession for consecutive two years, 2018 and 2019, with huge success. In 2018 the procession was held from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata, to the Academy of Fine Arts and in 2019 from Golpark Ramkrishna Mission to Deshapriya Park.
Both the year World Art Day Procession was lead by distinguished artists Jogen Chowdhury, Samir Aich, Tapas Konar, Aditya Basak, Bimal Kundu, Pradip Rakshit, Debabrata Chakrabarti and Ashit Pal. Renowned music director Debojyoti Mishra, famous art historians Mrinal Ghosh and Manasij Mazumdar also joined the procession along with other well-known art personalities including Manoj Dutta, Salil Das, Tarun De, Jaya Ganguly, Chhatrapati Dutta, Partha Dasgupta, Sanatan Dinda, Bhabatosh Sutar, Atin Basak, Prabal Baral, Karunamoy Sur, Subhabrata Nandi, Sumitabha Roychowdhury, Abhijit Bhattacharya, Subrata Ghosh, Abhijit Saha, Shyamal Roy, Malay Das, Srabani Sarkar, Mausumi Roy. Art curators Madhuchhanda Sen and Uma Mitra, art patron Samiran Banik, Art writer Shromona Ghosh, the joint secretaries of the Academy of Fine Arts Kallol Bose and Sudip Banerjee, architects, photographers, and fashion designers were all a part of the walk.
At the end of the Art Parade both at the Academy and Desapriya Park finally, discussions and dialogues amongst the assembled art fraternity, enriched all present. The gathering (included eminent artist Rabin Mondal and Shankar Ghosh, who left us last year forever) reaffirmed their commitment to visual art by spreading more awareness amongst the masses and a general consensus was reached about a more spectacular celebration of Bishwa Shilpokala Dibash, the following year.
Here as conclusion, with my twenty years in the domain of art, as an artist and art educator, I feel a lack of awareness in the society. It pains me to see how insensitive and uncaring many can be. Neither the Government nor the private educational institutions have cared to develop an arts appreciation course. Private schools have art & craft as a subject. However, very few students are encouraged to choose art for their board examinations.
The healing power of art has long been recognized by scientists and artists alike. It has now been proved with evidence on the therapeutic quality of art. Today visual art therapy has become an effective treatment for severe anxiety and depression.
Art is borderless and believes in togetherness bringing social harmony. Media has a role to play. In print hardly any space is dedicated for art. Though there are exceptions, it can generally be said that art gets neglected.
Only if we appreciate art and aesthetics, our thoughts, inner feelings, values and social bonding will be become stronger.
In this context, the finest definition of art as written by Rabindranath Tagore is, ‘What is Art? It is the response of man's creative soul to the call of the real.’
