Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh
The Tradition of Bat-Tala
& Other Practices by The Printmakers
14th – 27th September 2024
The relevance of having a show dedicated to printmaking in the present times gains more credence when we consider the enthusiasm with which young artists are taking to the medium. While the tradition of printmaking dates back to another era, artists felt the constant need to promote its cause to those art collectors who assumed that prints were mere reproductions on paper instead of being what they were—actual works of art in editions. Towards this, the distinguished artist Somenath Hore began the first independent graphics department at Indian School of Arts in 1954 as well as the printmaking departments later at Delhi’s College of Art and at Viswa Bharati, Shantiniketan. Manjit Bawa set up the printmaking studios at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, while other collectives began working in other cities; to name a few, the Shilalekh Group (1957), Society of Contemporary Artists (1960), Group 8 (1968), The Realist Group (1980s and ’90s), the Indian Printmakers Guild (1990) and Multiple Encounters (2004).
Despite the more discerning collector’s interest in print exhibitions and print biennales, senior artists realised the need to showcase the work of the veterans along with those who were emerging printmakers, given the limited opportunities to showcase their work. There had to be a recurrent leitmotif binding this huge enterprise, and there was complete unison on the theme Revisiting Bat-tala. The idea of exhibiting as a group with widely varied experience was meant to demonstrate how they connected as a world, and also to share knowledge and inherent skills with other practitioners, especially those who were starting out.
For artists in general and printmakers in particular, the Bat-tala school has been perennially, of great interest. Literally meaning under the Banyan tree, the artists of Chitpore initially worked under the shadow of the ubiquitous Bat-tala, and their work soon become so popular that they came to be known as the Bat-tala school. The art and illustrations that emerged spanned a range of subjects, from the religious and mythological to the satirical, commenting on the contemporary social life of the times.Reflecting on that tradition, artists are invited to explore possibilities of hand-painted wood block prints and relate to the technical, conceptual perspectives through the lens of contemporary times. Included herein are traditional and experimental practices, from pure brush painted woodcut to digital improvisation,although for the veterans we will make an exception and include any print that may be available.
What began as a wishful dream project was able to take concrete shape primarily because of the involvement of the co-curators of the exhibition Revisiting Bat-tala, namely, Dattatreya Apte, Anandmoy Banerjee and Sushanta Guha. The exhibition could not have happened without the generous support of IIC and Art Magnum, which we acknowledge with gratitude. Since the project is entirely conceived and executed by the artists, we have an in-depth essay on the process of printmaking from the perspective of the practitioners by Ananadmoy Banerjee, Dattatreya Apte and Sushanta Guha to share the underlying subtext of the exhibition with the viewers. We have an overview on printmaking as a genre by the scholar and academic Dr. Soumik Nandy Majumdar and an essay by Sanjeet Chowdhury, who has been a passionate collector of prints for years and has an archive that is invaluable.
The exhibition will include workshops, symposiums and tours to encourage discourse and dialogue with the participation of educationists, scholars and practitioners alongside the young artists and students.
