Beginning of a new art era

To mark the International Women’s Day celebrations, City-based Orissa Modern Art Gallery will be hosting an exclusive exhibition of art works by women artists from across the State on its premises in Forest Park here. Held as a part of  Art Era, the week-long exhibition will begin on March 8. A two-day workshop on ‘Landscape Painting’ will also be organised at Balasore in collaboration with the Balasore Art College for women artists prior to the exhibition.Art Era - a forum of women artists - was launched by a handful of women artists on March 8 (International Women’s Day) in the year 2008.Founder of the Gallery Tarakanta Parida said the annual event is a tribute to the unsung women artists of the State who have taken up art either as a vocation or a hobby.Though Orissa’s art colleges enrol a fairly large number of women students every year into its various diploma, degree and post graduation programmes, very few continue as professional artists later, Tarakanta said.“They discontinue art largely due to lack of opportunities to showcase their works. Hence we conceived this exclusive annual art event for women artists,” he added.According to Tarakanta, putting together such an exhibition of artists is a tough job.“We don’t have money and it’s very difficult to organise a sponsor for this kind of programme in Odisha but of course things had to begin somewhere,” he said.Senior artists like Chitra Patnaik and Lipishree Nayak, who have been part of the event since its inception too feel that despite the pool of talent and potential, most women artists in the State are left to fend for themselves for lack of opportunities.“There is hardly any opportunity for them to excel professionally. The situation worsens with marriage. There is so little time to devote for paintings as it becomes an investment without returns,” said Lipishree.Both of them say even as Bhubaneswar provides some opportunity to women artists to showcase their art, the condition of those at district-level is all the more pathetic.“They find it really hard to sell a painting. It’s depressing at times,” Chitra says, adding that participation in events like this give them the boost to pursue art.