Artmosphere, A New Generation of Fine Art in Panjab
Beginning on October 15th, a three-day exhibition was held in Ludhiana to profile a generation of rising young artists in Punjab. The mission according to gallery is ‘to further enrich and diversify cultural life in the Punjab region by facilitating the development of emerging artists.’ The newly constructed gallery in Ludhiana offers exhibition and installation space, leads and collaborates in the development of programs for the visual and performing arts, and will soon be providing an art residency.
A recent exhibit called ‘Three/One: A Collaborative Art Exhibition in Ludhiana’ was held to showcase the work of Rachna Sidhu, Ankur Singh Patar, and Vivek Pandher, children of some of the most famous literary figures in Punjab. Rachna Sidhu, daughter of the famous thinker and literary critic Amarjit Grewal is a portrait maker at Guru Nanak International public school. Vivek Pandher is the son of the poetic genius Jaswant Zafar, a photographer by profession and a student of film production at UBC. Finally Ankur Singh Patar is son of poetic legend Surjit Patar and focuses on digital art, drawing much of his inspiration from his father’s literary treasures.
As mentioned earlier on this blog, fine art tends to be more for aesthetic purposes and is often associated
with trained, or university-educated artists, where as folk art tends to be primarily utilitarian or decorative such traditional rural arts of Punjab, including women’s kes and dhariya, and folk instruments such as the dhad, algoza, and tumbi. Many of the early art schools made a distinction between fine art and folk art, discriminating against the later. Though I have a personal bias for Punjabi folk art, I do see a role for fine art today in helping us understand our Sikhi in the context of our changing world, as some of the greats like Arpana Kaur and the Singh twins have done.
You can find more of the pieces from Artmosphere, here.
My intention here is not to critique any of the pieces, but simply to showcase the exhibit and express my hope that the new generation of artists carry on the legacy of Punjabi art as social critique. As a source of inspiration, I leave you with a recent video of the famed Punjabi poet Jaswant Zafar and father of Vivek Pandher called ‘Nanak,’ a favorite of mine and my Dhada Ji:
4 Responses to “Artmosphere, A New Generation of Fine Art in Panjab”
Really nice piece by Jaswant Zafar. Suggest everyone listen. As for the younger folks, they are doing well and will be even better if they can keep the same depth as their elders. I know Surjit Patar began writing later in life, so there is always room for a bright future.
As for the younger folks, they are doing well and will be even better if they can keep the same depth as their elders. I know Surjit Patar began writing later in life, so there is always room for a bright future.
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