Exhibitions Of Folk Paintings By Usha Thakur: Events in Hyderabad

REVIEW FOR EXHIBITIONS OF FOLK PAINTINGS...

God, vaasthu and art. For several people, any one of those automatically brings in the other two. Like in these Mithila Paintings, now in Hyderabad.

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations is organising an exhibition of folk paintings by Usha Thakur, from 16th to 20th of November, at the ICCR Art Gallery. Thakur will be displaying about 70 paintings done in the Mithila style of art.

Thakur's paintings not only have an aesthetic sense, they also have spiritual aspects. Even though the colors used are synthetic, they are well thought of, balanced and unique. Most of the paintings are concentrated on shakti motifs such as Shiva, Kali, Durga, Ravana, Rama and Hanuman, crafted symbolically in murals, and encircled with auspicious symbols of fertility, prosperity and good luck. These include fish, parrots, turtles, the sun, the moon, planets, bamboo trees, banana trees, lotuses and various other flowers, which are symbolically prominent. The colors are mostly bright.

Mithila Painting is a rich traditional painting of the Mithila region, the royal kingdom of Raja Janaka and the birth place of Sita. This area is currently in the northern part of Bihar and Nepal. Mithila paintings are also popularly known as Madhubani Paintings, signifying the name of the village which is the hub of this painting activity. It is one of the creative activities by the womenfolk there. The people of this region are basically shakti worshippers, who believe in tantic rituals, and this is reflected in their paintings.

As per Vaastu, these paintings are believed to have lots of positive energy, bringing happiness, stability, prosperity and authority to the individual and the family. They are recognized across the globe - there are exclusive galleries of Mithila painting in Germany and Japan too.

Usha Thakur started her endeavour of artworks with the folk style of traditional Mithila paintings, more than a decade ago. She dedicated herself with full devotion to bringing the art out in her own style. It was easy for her to grasp the skills, as she is a native of North Bihar. She had been engaged in freelancing work with renowned emporiums of the twin cities.

She has also been working on various other styles of paintings, like oil paintings, glass paintings and 3D-modeling. This is her first solo exhibition in the twin cities.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Chandana Khan, IAS, Commissioner of Inquiries, Govt. of AP. The Secretary of Tourism & Culture, Chitra Ramachandran, IAS, and renowned clasical singer Vedavathi Prabhakar were other guests.

Please contact the gallery at 2323-6398/2324-0035 for further details.