BENGALURU: After a spinal cord injury during his stint in the Indian Air Force that left Mridul Ghosh (31) wheelchair-bound, he found himself at a loss. Until July 2015, when, the Paraplegic Rehabilitation Centre in Pune was organising various activities, including foot and mouth painting. While he admits that it was initially very hard to cope with both his condition as well as picking up the art, he soon found himself immersed in it, so much so that the hours passed by without him worrying.
“There’s this sense of freedom and positivity I experience. There’s no competition with anyone but myself. And since it keeps me occupied, those are the hours I forget about my tragedy and losses,” says Ghosh, who after his accident in 2010, was discharged after three years of treatment.
Ghosh, along with 19 artists from across India, will be part of an art exhibition organised by the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists Association (MFPA), an international registered society of disabled artists. The three-hour event will see artists showcasing 40 of their original paintings, in addition to a live demonstration by the artists on February 22 at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat.
While Ghosh focuses on portraits, Bengaluru-based artist Ramakrishnan Narayanswamy (50) enjoys recreating scenes from nature. Affected with cerebral palsy, Narayanswamy, a landscape artist, has been into art since childhood. Speaking on behalf of her brother, Vijaya Hariharan recalls their school days when she would bring home her art work which he would then look at and try out his own. “He spends about 2-3 hours every day on art. And when he’s not, he watches channels and shows that focus on nature, which is his inspiration,” she says about Narayanswamy who, despite his stiff limb movements, uses his feet to produce art.
In its first edition in Bengaluru (the previous two editions have been held in Kochi and Goa), Bobby Thomas, head of marketing and development, MFPA, feels that the city shows a great inclination towards art, one of the key reasons for the choice of the programme being held here. “We also had to ensure that the city is disabled-friendly and suit the needs of the artists,” he says, adding that many of the works of the artists are used on merchandise. “However, the programme is only a couple of hours long owing to the fact that the artists can sit up only for a limited period of time,” he says.