Art camp organised in Mandla to observe SH Razas 9th death anniversary

News18

2 days ago

Mandla (MP), Jul 22 (PTI) From children as young as four to senior artists in their nineties, curious minds and art enthusiasts have come together at the Raza Art Gallery to explore their inner selves and express creativity through paint and clay.
Working their imaginations on paper or on umbrellas, and browsing the internet for inspiration, the group of around 300 people across age and gender is observing the 9th death anniversary of modernist master Sayed Haider Raza.
Raza, who was born in Mandla, died on July 23 in 2016. The Raza Foundation has organised a multidisciplinary art camp, 'Raza Smriti', to commemorate the artist's lifelong association with art.
Shailja Kumari, 33, busy painting flowers on an umbrella, said that it was only some years ago that she heard of 'Raza sahab" and that he was a native of Mandla.
'It is a matter of pride for us that such an international artist was born among us. The only thing I could understand from listening to people is that art can be anything you want it to be, it does not have to look perfect," Kumari told PTI.
The mother of two is among the many who have come to attend the art workshop as part of Raza Smriti. The workshop, led by artists Ashish Kacchwaha, Garima Tamrakar, Ashok Sonwani, and Bheekham Prajapati, takes participants on a journey of self discovery through paintings on umbrellas, paper, and flowerpots — artworks that they are encouraged to take home.
'The foundation is trying to create an art culture where we are all invited, all age groups and it's open to all city members. They come and they experience art. Many of them are experiencing art for the first time, so the whole idea is to be so free that you can create anything and we are there to guide them," Tamrakar said.
The event, which started on July 19, has also hosted a sculpture camp, where artists are creating art works using scrap material, and a 'Gond Pradhan' art workshop that invited Gond artists of the region to create art.
'Raza, besides being a painter, was also deeply interested in the arts, particularly in poetry, dance and music. So we have structured the whole celebration here with a dual purpose, one is to bring forth items which relate to visual arts, poetry, music and dance and on the other hand, we also want the younger people from this area to get interested," Ashok Vajpeyi, poet and managing trustee of the Raza Foundation, said.
At the 'Scrap to Sculpture' camp, artists from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have used scrap material from bikes, cars, and construction sites to create artworks that respond to the creative philosophy of Raza.
If Narendra Kumar Dewangan's 'Environment Balancer" reflects the continuity of life and finding a balance between nature and human obstructions, Amit Kumar Sinha's works pays tribute to J Swaminathan and Raza.
'My work is a collaboration of J Swaminathan and SH Raza because their name in the art world is known globally, and Swaminathan worked a lot with Gond artists to promote their art. How he took Jangarh Singh Shyam to Bharat Bhavan and then to Japan. Even though Raza spent very little time here, as he was settled in France, still his journey of art in India is internationally renowned," Sinha said.
The group of sculptors have used petrol tanks, square pipes, rebars, chain sprockets, chains, gears, spark plugs, and metal sheets to create their works.
'The function of art is gathering up what is also broken down. The things here are broken down and not useful in the conventional sense but they can still be used in creating art, so there is this excitement of imagination getting embodied in material which never had been used for that purpose and was not intended to be used for that purpose," Vajpeyi said.
The five-day event also saw poetry readings, discussions, theatre, dance and music performances.
On Monday, Odissi dancer Arunima Ghosh and Bharatanatyam exponent Aarohi Munshi presented a collaborative performance based on 'Swasti", one of Raza's last works.
The event also saw participation of noted Hindi poets, including Prabhat Ranjan, Joshna Banerjee, Arun Kamal, Ashutosh Dubey, Vyomesh Shukla, Anil Tripathi, Ajit Kumar Rai, Arun Hota, Anil Tripathi, Pawan Karan, and Sangeeta Gundecha.
On Wednesday, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala's iconic poem 'Ram Ki Shakti Pooja" will be staged here at RD College, directed by Vyomesh Shukla. PTI MAH MG MG
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First Published:
July 22, 2025, 13:15 IST
News agency-feeds Art camp organised in Mandla to observe SH Razas 9th death anniversary
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