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In focus
‘Aditya Prakash, A Presentation in Free Verse’ is an exhibition that showcases, besides his architecture, the artist, writer, academic and architect’s foray into art, literature and theatre.
Aditya Prakash (1924-2008) belonged to the first generation of Indian modernists who sought to describe the entire cosmos of modern India, including art, architecture, design, planning and theatre. Prakash joined the Chandigarh Capital Project Team in 1952. This city, which he helped birth, was his lifelong love, where he lived and died. Painting was a perpetual practice for Prakash; he spent two to three hours every morning in his atelier, meditating on the expressions of a modern life not just for India, but more spiritually and sensually for the world. Bringing together a selection of Prakash’s works in dialogue with his furniture, photography, sculpture and urban plans, this exhibit, in free verse, explores the mechanics by which forms, ideas and ethics of ‘Chandigarh Modernism’ were exchanged, critiqued and transformed by one of its most devoted exponents.
The curators, Eashan Chaufla and Deepika Gandhi, both had their leaning towards the works of Prakash, which ultimately led to this event about his life and oeuvre and the exhibition based on them. Eashan is, in a sense, living with the legacy of Prakash every day, having set up his studio in the very house which Prakash designed for himself and where he produced most of his work. He worked closely on the book, ‘One Continuous Line’ by Vikramaditya Prakash, discovering more about the multifaceted creative personality of Aditya Prakash.
Deepika Gandhi, being an alumnus and then a faculty member of Chandigarh College of Architecture, has spent close to 30 years in a building designed by Prakash. She was drawn more to the artwork of Prakash, which she felt was never given due credit, and the fact that he was most prolific post-retirement. Chief Architect Sumit Kaur says that Prakash had an immense impact on her education as a student and later as an architect. She maintains that he was a mentor to hundreds of students, inspiring them with examples to go deeper into research and development of all the creative faculties of the students. Architect Kapil Setia, reflecting on this showcase, talks about the impact that the frame control devised by Prakash has had on the orderly development of the city. He also emphasises the need to preserve the iconic buildings that defined the Chandigarh style through creative adaptive reuse.
Highlighting the theatrical ventures of Prakash which were taken up in his late 70s and into his 80s till the time he died, Harleen Kohli recalls that Prakash became a part of the workshops of Gurcharan Channi that ultimately lead to the famous play, ‘Zindagi retire nahi hoti’, and the humility and child-like abandon with which Prakash immersed himself in the workshop and also contributed his lines to the play. “He passed away while travelling with the theatre group in a train at Ratlam at the age of 84,” says Kohli.
The exhibition and presentation give the viewers a new insight into the work of Prakash and display is a fine mix of carefully curated and painfully collected original paintings, drawings and photographs of his work, furniture and his books and his iron sculptures.
The exhibition is on view till August 23 at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Sector 16, Chandigarh.
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