VISAKHAPATNAM: An artist named Moka Vijay Kumar from Vizag has made more than 60 portraits of national and international celebrities, politicians, and business people by using only millets.
As United Nations has declared this year as the international year of millets, Vijay Kumar made these pieces of art to create awareness about millets in society.
As part of the recent G20 conference held in Telangana, the Ministers of Agriculture Department of 38 countries were presented with their portraits decorated with millets.
Vijay Kumar also made the millets portraits for the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as well as the Prime Minister and the Union Agriculture Minister.
Describing his millets art, he said that it takes about four days to make each portrait and mainly Ragulu (finger millet), Arikalu (kodo millet), Sajjalu (pearl millet), Gantlu and Samalu (little millet) are used. “An outline of the required image is first drawn with a pencil on a sheet, which is made in Germany.
After that, the millet grains are carefully pasted to make the portrait. As a finishing touch the artwork is sprayed with pesticide and a special frame is built to prevent air infiltration,” Vijay Kumar told TNIE. He also displayed his artwork at the Investors’ Summit held at Visakhapatnam.