02/11/21
Celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, National Gallery of Modern Art Bengaluru, Ministry of Culture, Government of India inaugurated retrospective exhibition entitled “SHASHWAT MAHARATHI- The Eternal Seeker” recently.
The exhibition was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Union Minister of Culture &Tourism.G Kishan Reddy in the august presence of Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary, Smt. Amita Prasad Sarbhai, Joint Secretary , Smt Lily Pandeya, Joint Secretary, from Ministry of Culture. P Venugopal , Senior Regional Director of ICCR Bengaluru, Sudhakar Rao , former Chief secretary Govt of Karnataka, CS Krishna Shetty , former Chairman of Lalit Kala Academy Delhi, Grammy award winning musician & environmentalist Ricky Kej , as well as several other artists, art lovers and foreign country students from ICCR Bengaluru, Southern regional centre were also present.
This is an in-house curated retrospective exhibition of iconic Gandhian artist Upendra Maharathi which includes over 600 artworks of the artist at display. The exhibition also includes beautifully curated unique installations conceptualised and designed by the DG NGMA Adwaita Gadanayak.
Exhibition catalogue and exclusive souvenir items designed in conjunction with the exhibition were also released by the Hon’ble Union Minister and the dignitaries present.
Taking a digital leap forward, NGMA Bengaluru has also integrated an audio guide along with the exhibition which was launched by the Hon’ble Union Minister. The audio guide would enhance the audience engagement as well as make this extensive retrospective exhibition more informative and educative.
Smt Mahashweta Maharathi, daughter of the artist, was also present for the inauguration and gave more insight and anecdotes about the art works at display. Folk artists from Sagar (Kannur Taluk) performed “Dhollu Xunitha” welcoming the union minister and distinguished dignitaries.
The exhibition is open to public and would be on display at the galleries of NGMA Bengaluru till February 2022.
