A vibrant Olympic debut-
Assamese artist’s painting selected for the mega event
Guwahati, June 27: Assam will have a “colourful” presence in the Beijing Olympics.
A painting by city-based artist Utpal Barua — an associate professor in the department of design at IIT Guwahati — has been selected for Olympic Fine Arts, 2008, an exhibition which will run alongside the mega sporting event starting on August 8.
“It is a great honour for me as well as the state,” Barua said after receiving the information from the Beijing art committee.
Barua’s painting, A butterfly was passing by, will be among the works of nearly 300 other artists from around the globe, whose creations will feature at the exhibition.
After the Olympics, the painting will feature at international exhibitions to be held in different places of the world for two years.
“Subsequently, it will be kept permanently in the Olympic Fine Arts Museum at the Tai Miao Temple in Beijing,” Barua added.
His painting was selected from among thousands of artwork on the themes “Sports and Olympism” and “China, the World.”
For the artist, there will be other moments to remember too. He has been invited to attend the opening ceremony and will also be given an honorary certificate and a gold medal, besides a replica of the Olympic torch.
Barua said the acrylic painting was “an expression of the Olympic spirit through a butterfly which signifies hope and expectations.
The colours in the abstract painting signifies the Northeast.
“My painting is an inscape, a reflection of what an artist sees through the inner eye,” the artist added.
Barua will be the first artist from the region to take part in an Olympic event. Born in the north bank town of Tezpur, the 48-year-old artist has over 10 international exhibitions in cities like Birmingham, Ontario and Singapore, besides several others all over the country. His works are also among the exhibits at the National Academy of Art in New Delhi.
Besides his passion for playing with colours, Barua has also dabbled in films, having worked as the art director in the national award-winning film, Wosobipo, in 1990.
Barua will leave for China in the first week of August. The Olympic Games will run through September 17. Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080628/jsp/northeast/story_9472584.jsp
