Kala Bhavana: Difference between revisions

| principal      = Sanjoy Kumar Mallik

'''Kala Bhavana''' (Institute of Fine Arts) is the fine arts faculty of [[Visva-Bharati University]], in [[Shantiniketan]], [[India]]. It is an institution of education and research in [[visual arts]], founded in 1919, it was established by Nobel laureate [[Rabindranath Tagore]].

Kala Bhavana was established in 1919.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/133152/8/09_chapteriv.the%20presence%20of%20women%20in%20the%20institutionalised%20space%20and%20their%20interventions%20-%20kala%20bhavana(1920-1930).pdf| title =The presence of women in the institutionalized space and their interventions: Kala bhavana (1920-1930)  |work= Page 177| publisher =  Shodhganga |access-date =  11 September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2019/sep/06/100-years-of-shantiniketans-kala-bhavana-2029677.html  | title =100 years of Shantiniketan's Kala Bhavana  | publisher = The New Indian Express, 6 September 2019  |access-date =  11 September 2019}}</ref> Although art historians have not been able to determine its exact date of foundation, it  celebrated its centenary in 2019.<ref name="ht">{{cite web | url = https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/rabindranath-tagore-s-art-school-kala-bhavan-set-to-turn-100/story-SsohSATb1kNIR5YRASG4xJ.html| title =Rabindranath Tagore's art school Kala Bhavan set to turn 100 | publisher = Hindustan Times, 11 November 2019  |access-date =  25 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/kala-bhavana-100-years-of-the-arts-school-founded-by-tagore/article30358021.ece|title=Kala Bhavana: 100 years of the arts school founded by Tagore|last=Ghosh|first=Bishwanath|date=2019-12-21|work=The Hindu|access-date=2020-01-12|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref> [[Asit Kumar Haldar]] was an art teacher at Santiniketan Vidyalaya from 1911 to 1915 and was in charge of Kala Bhavana from 1919 to 1921.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/AsitkumarHaldar.html| title = Asitkumar Halder (1890-1961) | publisher =  Visva Bharati |access-date =  25 August 2019}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=September 2019}} In 1919, when it first started functioning, it started teaching music and art. By 1933, the two streams were separated into two different schools, Kala Bhavana and [[Sangit Bhavana]]<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/file/English-Chapter-I.pdf| title = From Bharmacharyashrama to Visva-Bharati: A Chronicle of Metamorphosis of a Tiny School into an Internationally-Acclaimed Centre of Learning| publisher = Visva Baharati  |access-date =  26 August 2019}}</ref>{{Primary source inline|date=September 2019}}

In 1997, [[R. Siva Kumar]], leading art historian, curated an exhibition, ''[[Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism]]'', at the [[National Gallery of Modern Art]].<ref name="modernism">{{Cite web|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/static/html/fl1418/14180690.htm|title=Finding an expression of its own|website=frontline.thehindu.com|access-date=5 September 2019}}</ref> The exhibition, brought together about a hundred works each of the four modern Indian artists, namely Nandalal Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Ram Kinker Baij and Benode Behari Mukherjee on the centre stage and put the Santiniketan art movement into focus.<ref name="modernism"/> R.Siva Kumar argued that the "Santiniketan artists did not believe that to be indigenous one has to be historicist either in theme or in style, and similarly to be modern one has to adopt a particular trans-national formal language or technique.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}} Modernism was to them neither a style nor a form of internationalism. It was critical re-engagement with the foundational aspects of art necessitated by changes in one’s unique historical position".<ref>http://humanitiesunderground.org/all-the-shared-experiences-of-the-lived-world-ii/</ref>

[[Nandalal Bose]] became the first principal in 1923 and was followed by artists including [[Benode Behari Mukherjee]], [[Ramkinkar Baij]], [[K. G. Subramanyan]], [[Dinkar Kaushik]], [[R. Siva Kumar]], [[Somnath Hore]] and [[Jogen Chowdhury]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.readersdigest.co.in/culturescape/story-100-years-of-kala-bhavana-124816| title =100 Years of Kala Bhavana | publisher = 23 January 2019  |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://english.kolkata24x7.com/kala-bhavana-starts-100-years-celebration-nandan-mela-prep-peaks-up.html/ | title = Kala Bhavana Starts 100 Years Celebration, Nandan Mela Prep Picks Up | publisher = Kolkata 24 x 7  |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/The-man-who-gave-Kala-Bhavan-a-new-life/articleshow/7490716.cms| title = The man who gave Kala Bhavana a new life | publisher = The Times of India, 14 February 2011  |access-date =  20 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/adventures-in-arcadia-experiments-with-the-life-of-the-mind/cid/327576#.UUH2_hdTCHg|title= Adventures in Arcadia - experiments with the life of the mind| publisher = The Telegraph, 3 March 2013  |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref> Amongst others who distinguished themselves in the art arena of Santiniketan were [[Sankho Chaudhuri]] and Sanat Kar.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://prinseps.com/research/sankho-chowdhury-artist-biography/ | title = Sankho Chowdhuri (1916-2006)| publisher = Princeps  |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/ProfessorsEmeritus.html| title = Professors Emeritus | publisher =  Visva Bharati |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref>

Santiniketan has nine original ink brush works of [[Xu Beihong]], one of the pioneers of Chinese modern art, all painted during the artists visit to Santiniketan in 1939-40. He had stayed in [[Tan Yun-Shan]]’s old house near [[Cheena Bhavana]]. In August 2019, his son, Xufangfang, who had come on a follow up visit, said that he received inspiration from the creative environment at Visva Bharati.<ref name="beihong">{{cite web | url = https://icsin.org/blogs/2019/08/13/discovering-my-father-artist-xu-beihongs-experience-in-santiniketan-india/ | title = Discovering my father, Artist Xu Beihong's experience in Santiniketan, India | publisher =  ICS Research Blog |access-date =  20 August 2019}}</ref>

India has a long history of cultural relations with Japan.<ref name="japan">{{cite web | url = http://translation-anindya.blogspot.com/2010/09/touching-souls-painters-who-portrayed.html| title = Touching Souls: Painters who portarayed India| publisher =  India and Japan Cultural Relations |access-date =  29 August 2019}}</ref> In 1902, [[Okakura Kakuzō|Tenshin Okakura]] and Rabindranath Tagore met in Kolkata.<ref name="japan"/> On returning to Japan, Okakura sent two distinguished artists, [[Yokoyama Taikan]] and [[Hishida Shunsō]] to Kolkata, where they met Rabindranath Tagore and Abanindranath Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore went five times to Japan – 1916, 1917, 1924 and 1929 twice.<ref name="japan"/> Nampu Katayama visited India in 1916. On an invitation from Tagore, Shokin Katsuta stayed in Santiniketan and worked as art teacher from 1905 to 1907.<ref name="japan"/>  Kousetsu Nosu came to India in 1918. He met Kampu Arai in Kolkata, and the two together went to Ajanta for copying the frescoes there.<ref name="japan"/> In 1932 Nosu again came to India, to paint frescoes in the new Buddhist Vihara at [[Sarnath]]. On completing his work at Sarnath, he visited Kala Bhavana at Santiniketan to learn more about frescoes. Kampo Arai was in India from 1916 to 1918 and visited Santiniketan during the period. [[Fuku Akino|Akino Fuku]] was visiting professor at Santiniketan in 1962. [[Ikuo Hirayama]] has painted in India under the title Silk Road paintings. [[Nishida Shun'ei]] came to India in 1995. Koreshiko Hino visited Santiniketan in 2006.<ref name="japan"/>

*[[Stella Kramrisch]], Austrian [[art historian]], taught at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan in 1922-24. A skilled dancer she taught “musical drill” to the children of Santiniketan ashrama. She was conferred Desikottama and [[Padma Bhusan]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.visvabharati.ac.in/StellaKramrisch.html|title=Stella Kramrisch|last=|first=|date=|website=Visva Bharati|access-date=2019-09-04}}</ref>