Colour Coordinated in the Hills

Twenty-five artists from 10 countries have got together in Darjeeling,a hilly holiday destination in Bengal,to paint — but not just to paint. Instead,this week-long retreat titled “Merging Metaphors”,which began on June 11,

is buzzing with discussions and exchanges of ideas between creative people from diverse cultural backgrounds. The artists come from Singapore,Brunei,Cambodia,Indonesia,Laos and Malaysia besides the Indian contingent comprising Ganesh Gohain,Pampa Panwar,Pradeep PP,Seema Kohli,Sujith SN,Tapas Sarkar,Vivek

Vilasini and Binoy Varghese. Together,they visit local sites of artistic and cultural significance,hold discussions and watch slideshows and swap notes with one another. It is not just the nuances of different geography that the artists bring to the residency; they are also from wide-ranging genres such as new media and photography. The result,curators Sushma Bahl and Archana Sapra hope,will be a vibrant body of work that will be added to the collection of the organiser Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR).