BANGALORE: Twenty-eight-year-old Vasantha Kumar hails from Tondegere, a village near Tumkur district. He has been hearing-impaired since birth. His parents went through immense hardships to provide for his education. Against all odds, Vasantha completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree at Bapuji Arts College, Tumkur. He then went scouting for a job, at which point he met Gayathri Raveesh, founder of Helen Keller Institute. Gayathri trained Vasantha. After two years, he visited Cheshire Learning Resource Centre for further training. On July 8, Vasantha took part in his first group painting exhibition. And he seems to be happy with the acclaim he has received for his work.
Along with Vasantha, Neha Agarwal, Jyothi K Kumar, Rumaina Hafeez, B S Kishore and M Dinakar - people with hearing disability trained at Cheshire - are exhibiting their works at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat. The exhibition aims to help these artists earn a livelihood through art. Talking about the initiative, Nirmala Govindarajan, writer, theatre person and curator of the show, says, “We wanted to give these talented artists a chance to exhibit their works and earn recognition for themselves in this field. And proceeds from the sales will be donated to Cheshire to help create livelihood opportunities for the differently-abled people.”
The exhibition, which is on till July 10, has over 60 artworks on display. In the series titled ‘Hear the big picture’, 40 paintings created by hearing-impaired artists will be on view. Nirmala states, “Some of the paintings are abstract impressions. Landscapes, nature and human life are the other themes. All in all, the paintings are modern and contemporary.” Apart from this, another series ‘Death and deliverance in Kolkata’ showcases works by Santanu Chakraborty, an artist known for his black and white photographs.
Nirmala says the response for the exhibition has been good and that she is grateful for all the support. She says, “S G Vasudev has been supporting us throughout. He inaugurated the show for us. Another friend, Deepa Subramanian, founder of Galerie De'Arts has helped us promote the show through her initiative ‘Art from the Heart’. Rashmi Rajan has contributed too. Her production, ‘Prelude to the broken silence’ will be staged at the closing ceremony.”
Impressed by the artwork, S G Vasudev observes, “I am happy to see so many beautiful paintings created by people with disability. We need to nurture their talents and I feel this exhibition is an important step in that direction.”
After the exhibition, Nirmala says, Vasantha will continue to look for a regular job to support his family. But there is still a ray of hope that he will become an artist. This exhibition aims to help Vasantha and others to take up art as a career.