The over century-old haven for budding artists, JJ School of Art, is preparing for an upcoming art exhibition. Called ‘Kala ka Aangan’, which translates to ‘Courtyard of Art’ it will display artwork of current students on four boards erected in the campus. However, the exhibit does not have an inaugural date yet.
“The four boards will display the work of the Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Architecture and Sculpture departments,” said Rajiv Mishra, principal of JJ College of Architecture. “Collectively, the exhibit will be called ‘Kala ka Aangan,’ as it will be held in the garden, as a tribute to the students’ artwork.” Mishra said the idea was conceptualised by state Education Minister Vinod Tawde, who will also be inaugurating the project. “The artworks that will be displayed on these boards have already been selected and we will put them up once we get the inaugural dates finalised by Tawde,” he said. “The project will be open to the public after it is inaugurated, so that passers by can also view it.”
Wall art
While the boards might be blank for now, the institute’s wall facing the courtyard has been completely revamped. “As part of this project, the entire wall was painted by seven of us around 10 days ago. The main artist behind it is Rajat Bhele, a student of the Applied Arts department who graduated this year,” said Uday Kawle, an ex-student of the school from the Fine Arts department. Kawle added the previous painting on this wall was made six years ago. “Now it is time to promote the current students’ work which is why they gave it to us,” he said. “This project has also financially helped students and ex-students as we got paid to paint the wall.”
Inaugural date undecided
When asked why many students weren’t aware of the purpose of these boards, Saket Acharekar, an alumnus, said that since the summer vacation was on till a few weeks ago, some students were out of the loop. “The project has not been discussed openly, but since we are ex-students, we have heard of it from professors. The gallery was supposed to be inaugurated before the college reopened, but currently there is some issue going on with its inaugural date.”
Despite the preparation, ambiguity looms large over the gallery’s inaugural date. “The tentative date for the gallery’s opening was June 9,” said Anil Gandait, an ex-student of the Metal and Fine Arts Department. “Anyway, only half the students know about this project.”
“We cannot really display our artwork in the open during the rainy season,” said Kawle. “The gallery was supposed to have been inaugurated earlier this month but it got delayed.”
Source: http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-jj-school-of-art-to-throw-open-its-doors-for-student-exhibits/17344192
