Saturday, September 10, 2011

The genius of Tagore, on a different canvas


When Pritish Nandy was a young man, he came out with an unpriced book that contained translations of the last fifteen verses Rabindranath Tagore penned. "Unpriced because the Vishwa Bharati then had a bizarre regulation that Tagore's works could not be published," says Nandy.

To commemorate Tagore's 150th birth anniversary, starting tomorrow, the National Gallery of Modern Art ( NGMA) will present Shesh Lekha-The Last poems of Rabindranath Tagore-a unique exhibition where Nandy and artist Paresh Maity collaborate to celebrate the literary genius of the man.

The concept of the show hinges on the poet's inimitable text and combines the beauty of the written word with art. Taking a cue from Nandy's translations, Maity has created 15 corresponding watercolours. "His words are thought-provoking and almost picturesque," says Nandy. "And though Paresh hadn't been doing watercolours for a while, I felt they were the best medium to capture the landscapes of Tagore's mind." What is of particular beauty about these poems, considered by many to be some of Tagore's finest works, is the sense of serene melancholy that informs the diction.

Full report here Times of India 

No comments:

Post a Comment