Arthshila Santiniketan’s inaugural show, Somnath Hore: A centenary exhibition, curated by K.S. Radhakrishnan, explores the different facets of the artist. The nonlinear exhibition covers his works across different periods, including works from an unpublished sketchbook of his drawings of daily life in Santiniketan from 1987/88. The exhibition includes intaglio prints from his period in Delhi in the 1960s (including his masterpiece the Birth of a White Rose, 1961- which fetched him the National Award) as well as etchings, drawings, and paintings from different periods, done in different methods. Pages from his sketchbook from 1997/98, with pen-and-ink sketches capture animals in Santiniketan, both in a playful mode, as well as co-sufferers of human beings (as Somnath Hore would see them as).
The exhibition showcases some of his early works (woodcut prints) from the 1940s/1950s (including iconic works like Ratey Khuli Baithak, 1946 and Budhiya Barmaner Ma, 1946). It also hosts several other original works of his in different forms across different periods, including several of his works from his famous Wounds series. The exhibition further delves into his lesser known works (digital reproductions of his oil paintings from the 1950s) and several woodcut prints. The exhibition has digital reproductions of images of his bronze sculptures as well. There is also a display of the pages of a sketchbook from 1997 with pen-and-ink sketches of quotidien scenes from Santiniketan.
The exhibition, with the varied range of works, all tied through the single leitmotif of suffering and wounds, captures the essence of the greatly diverse oeuvre of the artist.
Established as Takshila’s Art Collective, Arthshila is an immersive platform for creating and sharing ideas centred around the arts with spaces designed to facilitate artistic expression and to curate creative experiences.
Arthshila has been set up with a belief that the arts are an integral part of our lives and contribute to the society’s well-being. The vision is to create engaging and inspiring platforms for artists and audiences alike, through interactions and exchange of ideas. Arthshila’s focus is on architecture, cinema, design, literature, performing arts and visual arts through its four multi-art centres, functional in Ahmedabad, Santiniketan and two more centres soon to be launched in Patna and New Delhi. Each centre, unique in its design and delivery, curates programmes across multiple domains.
Takshila Educational Society functions from its nucleus headquarters, called the ‘Knowledge Centre’, in Delhi. Manned by an able team of academic consultants, technology wizards, design and content developers as well as eminent thinkers, the team delivers to the various Takshila branches situated at different locations. Takshila Educational Society’s other initiative- Parivartan, is an integrated rural community development. It is a social organization that aims to provide an enabling environment for children, youth, women, farmers, and artisans from nearby villages.
Ekatara- another initiative by Takshila Educational Society aims to ingrain a basic understanding of literature appreciation, writing, and language skills. Chakmak and Pluto- the two children's magazines aim to build a corpus of children's literature.