Exhibition is all set to celebrate the life and times of India’s first ever Oscar winner for costume design Bhanu Athaiya

A retrosepctive exhibition celebrates the life and times of costume designer Bhanu Athaiya who won India’s first ever Oscar in 1983 (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

The exhibition will be on display from December 6 to December 17, 2023 at The Aguad, Siolim Rd, Aguada Fort Area, Candolim, Goa (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

The exhibition would focus on Athaiya's six-decade (1929-2020) contribution to Indian art and cinema, with a spotlight on her perception of India from childhood to mastery of costume design (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

Broadly chronological, the exhibition opens with a section on Princely India, devoted to the artist’s early years in Kolhapur, her family lineage and what led her to eventually move to Mumbai and join the JJ College of Arts. Along with this, the treasure trove of Bhanu Athaiya’s personal heirloom textile pieces will also be displayed (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

The exhibition then focuses on her time as an artist, the only woman artist as part of the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG) with artworks ranging from technical sketches to beautiful oil and water paintings (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

Art works displayed here will include loaned works from museums and esteemed art collectors such as the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. This section is an important part of modernism in the Indian art historic realm and how Bhanu contributed to Modern Indian Art. Her canvas, ‘Rang Mahotsav’ will be displayed for the first time in an exhibition (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

Brijeshwari Kumari Gohil, Vice-President of Prinseps, adds: ‘I am thrilled to be curating a second exhibition on Bhanu Athaiya. There are so many beautiful, inspirational layers to her as an artist and designer. Having the access and opportunity to study these and bring them to the public realm makes me feel like we are doing justice to her legacy (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

When studying her art, archiving her sketches, intricately handwritten notes, Brijeshwari was amazed to see the level of detailing and research she took on, at a time prior to the internet and social media. "She was an influencer before the term was popularised and I hope this exhibition and her legacy inspires other budding creatives," said Brijeshwari. (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)

Radhika Gupta, daughter of Bhanu Athaiya told indianexpress.com, "Each film was a fresh canvas on which she visualised costumes according to the script narrated by the director . Ideally if she did costumes for all the artistes in the film, e g. Amrapali, Lagaan, Gandhi, the colour palette and look of all the actors blended into their distinctive characters creating a visual extravaganza. Her creative flair, the in-depth knowledge of the cultural heritage of India and the insatiable quest for learning was the secret of her lifelong commitment to art and all that was artistic.” (Source: Prinseps Exhibition/PR Handout)