Confluence of landforms
Srishti Art Gallery’s ongoing display connotes the symbiosis of local heritage and global narratives
A library of cultures, languages, and ideologies — long serving as a crucible for artistic innovation and exchange. The exhibition Inked Legacies, Linking Geographies, curated by Deeksha Nath, offers a dazzling glimpse into one such enduring crusade — the relationship between the Faculty of Fine Arts, Vadodara, and the fertile artistic landscapes of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Through a curation of works spanning decades, it heralds the alchemy of tradition and modernity, as embodied by the medium of printmaking. Tracing stylistic genealogies and thematic echoes, Inked Legacies sketches the artists’ symbiotic flow of ideas and inspirations across regions. The works on display are milestones in an ever-unfolding story.
A vanguard of creative dialogue
Founded in 1950, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, swiftly rose as an epicentre of magnificence. With its avant-garde training in printmaking techniques like intaglio, lithography, and serigraphy, it became a lodestar for talent across India. From the 1960s onwards, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana artists flocked to this bastion of creativity, forging an indelible connection between the Eastern and Western realms.
Founded in 1950, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, swiftly rose as an epicentre of magnificence. With its avant-garde training in printmaking techniques like intaglio, lithography, and serigraphy, it became a lodestar for talent across India. From the 1960s onwards, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana artists flocked to this bastion of creativity, forging an indelible connection between the Eastern and Western realms.
“Baroda set my imagination aflame,” says T. Venkanna, one of the arrangement’s dynamos. “It was a revelation — a world where conceptual rigour met the freedom to dream boundlessly. I returned home not just as an artist but as a storyteller armed with a new visual language.”
The lineage of Baroda
The show unravels the influence of Faculty legends like K.G. Subramanyan, Jyoti Bhatt, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Rini Dhumal. These trailblazers imbued their proteges with a distinctive aesthetic — a congruity of narrative depth, global art histories, and a rootedness in tradition. The works of these mentors resonate across generations, from pioneers like P. Gouri Shankar and Laxma Goud to contemporary torchbearers such as Chippa Sudhakar, Soghra Khurasani, and Jagadeesh Tammineni.
The lineage of Baroda
The show unravels the influence of Faculty legends like K.G. Subramanyan, Jyoti Bhatt, Gulammohammed Sheikh, and Rini Dhumal. These trailblazers imbued their proteges with a distinctive aesthetic — a congruity of narrative depth, global art histories, and a rootedness in tradition. The works of these mentors resonate across generations, from pioneers like P. Gouri Shankar and Laxma Goud to contemporary torchbearers such as Chippa Sudhakar, Soghra Khurasani, and Jagadeesh Tammineni.
Sudhakar Chippa, whose prints echo the textures and rhythms of rural life adds, “I learned to translate the earthy vibrancy of my village into universal visual poetry. It’s a bridge between the local and the cosmic.”
Printmaking precision
Central to Inked Legacies is printmaking itself — a form that melds technical mastery with narrative depth. For Bhaskar Chary, the medium is an act of transcendence. “It’s not merely an image but a palimpsest of personal memories and collective histories, etched into permanence.”
A renaissance in the heartland
Many of the artists who honed their craft in Vadodara returned to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, bringing with them the ethos of the Baroda School. Through teaching and practice, they sowed the seeds of a renaissance in the region, nurturing generations of artists who continue to redefine the boundaries of Indian art. Venkanna shares, “We wanted our art to pulse with the energy of our heritage while constantly evolving. We wanted to be reminders that our journeys are intertwined, our stories inseparable.”
(The show is on till February 9. At Srishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills.)
Printmaking precision
Central to Inked Legacies is printmaking itself — a form that melds technical mastery with narrative depth. For Bhaskar Chary, the medium is an act of transcendence. “It’s not merely an image but a palimpsest of personal memories and collective histories, etched into permanence.”
A renaissance in the heartland
Many of the artists who honed their craft in Vadodara returned to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, bringing with them the ethos of the Baroda School. Through teaching and practice, they sowed the seeds of a renaissance in the region, nurturing generations of artists who continue to redefine the boundaries of Indian art. Venkanna shares, “We wanted our art to pulse with the energy of our heritage while constantly evolving. We wanted to be reminders that our journeys are intertwined, our stories inseparable.”
(The show is on till February 9. At Srishti Art Gallery, Jubilee Hills.)