A reunion like no other

School or college reunions are not a new concept. It’s a time for fun and frolic,a time when you meet your class mates of old and see where life has taken everyone. This is a reunion of a different sort. On March 23,35 members of the 2006 batch of Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya held an exhibition of their paintings,to commemorate the fifth year of their reunion. With each artist contributing two of his or her paintings,this is the first time that there has been an exhibition of such a large conglomeration of artists.

There is no particular theme – each artist has picked out their own best works. The artists have not even worked on the same material,nor are they based in the same city – the only thing common to them is the fact that they belong to the same institute. Prakash Borude,one of the artists says,“Not all of us are professional artists,even though we have degrees in it. Some of us are animation professionals,and some are into interior designing. Yet we have all continued to paint. This exhibition is a result of that.” Aswini Gawade,another artist,adds,“I am into interior designing and my paintings,done in ink on paper,also deals with interiors,one of a house and the other of a studio.”

Borude’s paintings deal with the seaside. “I recently visited Alibaug and was so struck by the sight that I decided to put it on canvas,” he says. Vijay Jadhav,too,has painted the seaside,albeit in a different way. “I have painted the seaside during the Ganpati Visarjan – the frenzy and excitement attached to it. The other painting,a work in watercolour,is of a tanga-wallah I saw in Pandharpur,” he says.

Some of the artists have tried something different. Manjusha Athani has attempted to bring out the theme of love through her semi-realistic paintings of flowers. “The paintings are not abstract,yet one immediately thinks of love when they see my works,” she says.

(The exhibition will be on at the Bharatratna Pt. Bhimsen Joshi Kaladan,Sahakarnagar,till March 27,from 10 am to 1 pm,and 4 pm to 7.30 pm)