400 Years of Indian Printmaking art on display
by Arsh Bahal
Times of India
18 September 2018
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, in collaboration, with Delhi Art Gallery (DAG) on Monday inaugurated
‘The printed picture, four centuries of Indian printmaking’, an exhibition dedicated to the last four centuries of Indian printmaking at Punjab Kala Bhawan. The exhibition was inaugurated by Dr Anupum Sud, artist, painter and a pioneer figure in the present and the history of Indian printmaking.
The exhibition contains 124 artworks on display and has been curated by Indian painter, artist, professor and illustrator extraordinaire Paula Sengupta, which is a walk and an inspiration out of her book of the same name, brought out in collaboration with Delhi Art Gallery.
Her book, ‘The Printed Picture’, is a documentation of the chronological evolution of the history of Indian printmaking over the course of the last 400 years, tracing its origin back to the pre-independent colonial India.
Speaking at the event Paula, while addressing the congregation said, “The Printed Picture is a book that goes back to 2012, after its first discussions began with DAG back in 2010-2011”.
The book has been a compilation of hundreds of printed artworks, unified from different cities, periods and artists. “I think printmaking is medium that is meant for the masses and for a greater number of people that the conventional elite. Printmaking requires a different space and influence when compared to paintings and sculptorIn the British times, Calcutta was the hub of printing and publishing, but it later also flourished to places like Lahore, Amritsar, Mysore, Mumbai among others. Slowly, the Indian labour force started working in the printing presses, In the late 1800s, five art schools were set up in India, where printmaking began to be taught as an industrial subject,” Paula added.
Comparing printmaking to other more prevalent mediums, Paula remarked that printmaking, just like other mediums cannot be practiced in isolation in your studio, it requires infrastructure like a press, equipment and other things.
The exhibition is on till October 16, 2018.
