Dear Friends,
The official launch of Breaking Boundaries, painting exhibition of five South Indian artists, AV Ilango, Aishwarya Ramachandran, Kanthimathy, Priya Ilango & Shamlee, curated by Sivarajah Natarajan, at Sutra Gallery, sent an afterglow of positive vibrations which permeated the minds of all who were present.
The message of art & culture as the vehicle of human civilisation could never be clearer.
The Guest of Honour, HE Shri BN Reddy, spoke of the event as a glowing tribute of the continuing soft cultural diplomacy that have always taken place till now, between Malaysia and India, as represented by many of Sutra Foundation’s endeavours.
Visual art & Dance took centre stage, sending waves of ‘rasa’ and ‘beauty’. These are potent index of human development that helps cement the bonds which made us the civilised human that transcends national boundaries.
Both the visual depiction of Painting and Dance allowed many sensitive guests to achieve the epiphany of total involvement with the heightened emotional state of ‘oneness’ at this opening launch.
The intense discussion between Sivarajah (Curator) and AV Ilango emphasised the notion that ‘Art compelled me’ and not the other way round.
Sutra Gallery paid homage to the art of AV Ilango who had been a significant creative artist who ‘brokered’ the marriage of Odissi and Painting.
For two decades Ilango had pursued the trail of Sutra’s Odissi and one can sense this in the curves and rhythm of movement even in the works of artists Kanthimathy, Priya Ilango and Shamlee, who he mentored.
Aishwarya Ramachandran, however, took a different path. She painted in the super realist manner, solely the portraits of the endangered Tiger. The sensitive rendition of the beauty of these magnificent creatures prick our conscience with pathos and compassion, for their plight.
Sutra dancers Geethika Sree, Tan Mei Mei, Harenthiran & Vickneshwaran performed Odissi and were lyrical painting figures coming to life from the walls of Sutra Gallery.