Art Trip to National Gallery of Modern Art & Craft Museum, Delhi

It was the 15th of August, the day on which the new D-Formers were going to embark on the annual art trip to the NGMA in New Delhi. We enthusiastically boarded the buses and left for Delhi.

The next day we visited the National Gallery of Modern Art. NGMA is the premier art gallery under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on March 29th 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai and Bangalore. Its collection of more than 14,000 works includes works by artists such as Thomas Daniell, Raja Ravi Verma, Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil as well as foreign artists, apart from sculptures by various artists. Some of the oldest works preserved here date back to 1857. We walked around the gallery and silently the beautiful pieces of art in the museum. I noticed that the NGMA was mainly focused on paintings, sculptures and graphics. After walking around the NGMA for a while, we left and went to a craft museum.

The National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum (NHHM), commonly known as National Crafts Museum in New Delhi, is one of the largest crafts museums in India. It is run by the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The museum is situated on the corner of the Pragati Maidan, facing the Purana Qila complex. The museum had a rather rural, village sort of feel. It was a refreshing change from the hustle and bustle of the NCR. The Crafts Museum was built in 1956 post independence when the country felt the need to preserve its rich but fading art and craft work by launching projects to develop and exhibit these beautiful pieces of work. It was then that the government created a platform like the Crafts Museum, which exhibited a collection of crafts that was put together by the craftsmen between the 1950s and the 1960s. Since then the museum has grown steadily to its present size and area space. The next day we packed up and left Delhi to return to the school. The NGMA art trip to New Delhi was a truly enriching and learning experience for me and I hope all the new D-Formers who join as the batch of 2021 enjoy their trip as much as I did.

Raghav Kapur 149 O

Smoke Firing Workshop

For many, art as an activity does not lie beyond a paper and some paints. For others, the real beauty of this activity lies is it’s various forms. Everything around us is related to art in some way or the other. One form of art, which cannot exist without nature, is the art of Smoke Firing. Smoke firing is an ancient process of giving simple pots a completely different look. The usage of this process dates back to one of the oldest and most renowned civilizations, the Indus Valley Civilization or the Harrapan Civilization. The Harrapans are said to be the first people to actually introduce this form in the world and used it in order to decorate the pots they made. Since then the process has been used by many and till date many tribes in India are using this form of art.

As far as the process of smoke firing is involved, it is a rigorous task where a number of things are to be kept in mind. Once the pot is made, it is smoothly burnished with a stone, giving the surface a beautiful and a silky glow, which comes from within. The piece is allowed to dry. Then several layers of fine liquid clay called Terra Sigillata are applied and it is polished after each coat. The piece is next fired in an electric kiln to approximately 1000 degrees Centigrade and is ready for smoke firing. For the smoke firing the pot is kept in a metal or a brick container which is filled with various things like sawdust of different textures, dry leaves, dry twigs etc. and is allowed to slowly smolder for several hours. Thus, after some time one can observe that the polished , unglazed surface will be richly marked by the smoke and the flame, imparting sensuality to the pieces.

The Art Department at The Doon School in order to introduce and make boys aware about the form, conducted a three day Smoke Firing Workshop which was open to all forms. Participation by all forms was witnessed and great enthusiasm and work was showcased. On the first day everyone was introduced to the form and was further told about the basic fundamentals of smoke firing. After the orientation, boys were told to make a simple plan of their ideas. Over the few days everyone made their respected pieces. On the last day, once the pots were dry, they were burnished where everyone was provided with a stone, which was then followed by applying the layers of the liquid clay and then were finally put in the pit. This was a very interesting and engaging workshop and was appreciated by all.

Mihir Gupta 378 K

Mask Making Workshop

Art is all about learning and perceiving its different forms. It’s not just restricted to painting or sketching. To facilitate this ideology, our Art Department has hosted various art workshops in the past, teaching us students such methods and techniques of which we hadn’t even heard of. The Mask Making workshop was one such workshop, which was held from the 7th- 8th of April 2014.

The charm of this form of art lies in its simplicity. As children, we all loved to play with mask making them from our imagination. Well, this is exactly what we apply in this variation of art, using all kinds of colour. First we made mask with clay and then we took a mold of Plaster of Paris. It was a test of patience against our excitement, till it dried up. When the time was right, we pulled out the mould of POP and gasped in amazement as we did so. After that we completed our mask with paper pulp. The beauty of how we encapsulate the mask imagination’ in all its perfection and grace is what urged all the students to create something special.

The Mask Making workshop was executed under the guidance of our very own art masters from the Art School, without whose extra efforts and dedication, it would not have been possible. It was as successful as any other workshop, with students and masters alike, rushing in after school hours to the Art School.

Digvijay Gupta 676 K

Sand Casting Workshop

Art is all about learning and perceiving its different forms. It’s not just restricted to painting or sketching. To understand this further the Art Department has hosted various art workshops in the past, teaching boys such methods and techniques of which we hadn’t even heard of. The Sand Casting workshop was one such workshop, which was held from the 16th- 24th of September 2013.

The charm of this form of art lies in its simplicity. As children, we all loved to play with sand on the beach, carving out our names or building from our imagination. Well, this is exactly what we apply in this variation of art, using all kinds of waste materials such as metal pieces and shards of glass to add colour. To get the final result, we fill the container of sand with a proportion of plaster of paris, and then test our patience against our excitement, till it dries up. When the time is right, we pull out the block of ‘POP’ and gasp in amazement as we do so. The beauty of how we encapsulate the negative of our ‘sandy imagination’ in all its perfection and grace is what urged all the students to carry on and create.

The Sand Casting workshop was executed under the guidance of our very own art masters from the Sculpture Department, without whose extra efforts and dedication, it would not have been possible. It was as successful as any other workshop, with students and masters alike, rushing in after school hours to the Art School.

Digvijay Gupta 676 K

Watercolour Workshop by Prof. Indrapramit Roy

Indrapramit Roy was born in Calcutta in 1964. He studied printmaking (BFA) at the Visva-Bharati University of Santiniketan and painting (MFA) at the Faculty of Fine Arts of M.S. University of Baroda, India. The switchover from printmaking to painting was an important decision for Indrapramit Roy.

Recently, he has returned to watercolours, imposing upon himself a discipline that demands accountability of every stroke of the brush, thereby minimizing chance happenings. With direct reference to the experience of fatherhood, there emerges a new landscape composed of the paraphernalia that surrounds a child. In successive paintings, these images are reduced to calligraphic bands of symbols that persist beyond the field of immediate perception, supportive strokes against which future vistas of experience come into being.

He has held several solo shows and participated extensively in-group exhibitions in India and abroad. He has also been awarded the Inlaks Scholarship to study MA Painting (1990-92) at the Royal College of Art, London, which also included a term each at Cite des Arts, Paris and Hochschule der Kunst, Berlin.Indrapramit is the recipient of the Kanoria Centre Fellowship (1989), Inlaks Fellowship (1990-92) to study at RCA, London, Junior Research Fellowship (1993-95) from the Government of India and most recently, the Fulbright Fellowship (2004-5) for six months to the USA.

Indrapramit also designs books for children and young adults. His recent illustrations include ‘Antigone’, ‘King Oedipus’, ‘Bacchae’ and ‘Hippolytus’: four retellings of Greek tragedies produced by Tara Publishing, Chennai and published by the Getty Museum, Los Angeles. ‘Antigone’ won the best book design award of the New York Book Fair, 2002 and ‘Bacchae’ got the Association of American Museum Publishers’ Award in 2005. ‘Hungry Lion’ published by Annick Press, Canada won the Alcuin Award in 1998.

Indrapramit’s other interests include writing on art. He has contributed for art magazines and exhibition catalogues. He has been teaching painting at his alma mater Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU of Baroda since 1995.

Mr. Roy conducted an art workshop on 3rd and 4th September 2013 in the School’s Art & Media Centre. He put emphasis on watercolour and understanding of visual media. Boys, from across the forms participated in this workshop and gathered immense knowledge on colour, composition and visual aesthetics.
His presentation on contemporary art was brilliant and boys interacted with him to clarify various doubts.

Art Night Out in Chandigarh

We woke up on 2nd September; Friday morning and enthusiastically started changing for school. We had already packed the previous day and would be leaving at break for Chandigarh.
The next day, 3rd September; we woke up at around eight ‘o’ clock and ate breakfast at our individual hosts’ house. After that Mr. Bhowmick, along with the four hired taxis went from one house to another gathering up everybody and we all went together to the world renowned Nekchand Gardens. A head count was conducted after which we all went in eager to see this work of art. Given the fact that this entire structure was made of the waste materials of Chandigarh, it was very impressive and there we met the creator of Rock Garden Mr. Neck Chand. However, it was a too long and tiring walk in the sun and so as a result we were only too glad when we saw the exit sign. From there we went to an Art gallery named “Art Folio” and we saw some contemporary India paintings. After that at 1.00pm we went to Chandigarh National museum, which was interesting. We were acquainted with the curator of the museum; we saw how replicas of the originals are made and also were shown around a section, which was about Neanderthal man, and how he lived.

Yash Dhandhania-159-H

Art Night Out in Amritsar 2010

On September 19, fourteen of us C-form art enthusiasts, along with Aloke Tirtha Bhowmick, Head of the Art and Media School, left for Amritsar on an art tour. We travelled by road, lest we miss the beauty of the drive travelling by other means. It was a long, exhausting journey and we reached by the evening. We began the tour shortly, after having rested. The first destination was the beautiful Khalsa College. This impressive building, dating from pre-Independence days is in the Islamic style of architecture. After we had looked around, we headed for the Guru Nanak Dev University, one of the more recently established universities in Amritsar. It has a unique structure in the form of an inverted pyramid. After this, we went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Panorama where the paintings and the belongings of Ranjit Singh were on display. This was the end of the first day of our tour. The next day, we went to the renowned Golden Temple, which is one of the most beautiful structures in the world today. In fact, the name of Amritsar is derived from two Hindi words ‘amrit’ which means nectar of immortality and ‘sarovar’, which is the holy water that surrounds the Golden Temple. We spent quite a while exploring this fascinating complex. Jallianwala Bagh, where the infamous massacre took place in 1919, was the most haunting destination on our tour, with its bullet holes and bloodstains. We couldn’t imagine that it was at that very place that over a thousand people were killed by soldiers under orders of Brigadier-General Dyer. Most horrific of all was the sight of the Martyr’s Well, in which many of the victims jumped to take refuge. Our final destination on this tour was the Indo-Pak border at Wagah to observe the famous Flag Ceremony. It began with a coordinated parade by soldiers on both sides of the border. After a display of goose-steps, marches and handshakes, the flags were retrieved amidst thunderous applause. It was certainly an interesting display. This was our last day in Amritsar. The next day, we headed back to School carrying vivid images of a memorable experience.

Suhel Karara 249 K