Horizon of Art

Horizon of Art – Soroptimist International of Chembur & Navi Mumbai

Horizon of Art, an art exhibition organised by Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai Group of Institutions and Soroptimist International of Chembur and Navi Mumbai on Saturday 13th, Sunday 14th and Monday 15th December, 2008 in the Exhibition Area of Dr. K. M. Vasudevan Pillai Campus, Plot No. 10. Sector – 16, Podi No. 2, New Panvel – 410 206. The exhibition is open to the pubic between 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Horizon of Art is an exhibition cum sale of acrylic on canvas, water colours, mixed media, natural colours on canvas and handicrafts of rural India. Paintings made by artists of the Kurumba tribe of the Nilgiris, art work from Hubli, Mural work from Kerala depicting the Bhakti movement prevalent between the 17th and 19th Century. Hand-made mud jewellery from Kerala baked in kilns and paintings that are replicas of originals such as Raja Ravi Verma, M. F. Hussain and Satish Gujral. These replicas are oil on canvas.

Some of the artists are physically challenged – Mohammed Rafi Matullah and Ibrahim Hashmi are deaf and dumb artists and Bandenawaz Badhshah Nadaf is a mouth painter. These talented artists have to struggle to make their ends meet what without employment and recognition. All of them are economically underprivileged – Sundaram, an artist from the Kurumba tribe of the Nilgiris, Tamilnadu and Maltesh, a painter from Hubli, Karnataka, Sikander, a good artist and embroider. They are young and in the age group of 20 to 25 years. Many of them are slow learners and still pursuing their education.

Credit for conceiving the idea and taking the initiative for organizing this art exhibition in Navi Mumbai goes to Dr.Daphne Pillai, Founder President of Soroptimist International of Chembur and Navi Mumbai and Principal Pillai College of Arts and Commerce, New Panvel. Soroptimist International is an International Women’s Organization working for the empowerment of women and children.

Colours and lines are artistic vocabulary. All the paintings depict the strong reactions of the artists’ personal experiences. The artists will be present at the show and will interact with the audience. The exhibition is presented before you by Ms. Usha Nair who is a Director & Curator for 3D Art Gallery F-7, Laxmi Mills, Shakti Mills Lane, Off E. Moses Road, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai – 400 011.

The objective of this exhibition is to provide the artists a platform to exhibit their talents and to bring them to the limelight. The “Horizon of Art” is the horizon where talents of these physically challenged and economically underprivileged artists will meet the eye of art lovers leading to a symbiosis of objectives.

Dr. Daphne Pillai, Joint Secretary and Rector – Dr. K. M. Vasudevan Pillai’s Group of Institutions, Dr. Padma Rangan – President, Soroptimist International of Chembur and Navi Mumbai and Dr. Lata Krishnan – Programme Action Co-ordinator S. I. Chembur & Navi Mumbai and PAC-NASI, invite you to visit the exhibition Horizon of Art. Your presence and patronage will encourage the artists. It will give them an opportunity to earn their living in a respectable manner. A sense of gratification mixed with self-esteem will engulf their minds. These shy and timid artists have so much to say and express! It will be an effort towards enriching and reviving Indian rural art and handicraft which is world acclaimed yet sadly fading away.

About the organizers:
Mahatma Education Society’s Pillai Group of Institutions

The Mahatma Education Society (MES) is proof of a vision linked irrevocably to national goals. Established in 1970, in a time when education was deemed service, it set about bringing social and economic change through the proactive personal development of every child that came into its fold. The vision of Dr. K. M. Vasudevan Pillai, Founder, Secretary, and CEO and Dr.Daphne Pillai, Joint Secretary and Rector, multi-location group delivering quality education at all levels. Today MES owns and manages over 40 institutions, from pre-primary to post-graduation. It comprises Schools, International schools, Degree colleges, Night colleges, Management Institutions, Engineering colleges, Colleges of Architecture, Colleges of Education and Polytechnic Institutions. The Pillai Group of Institutions has embarked into international schools foray by setting up schools in Gorai, Khandeshwar and Rasayani where the C.B.S.E, I.C.S.E, I.G.C.S.E and I.B programmes are conducted. These programmes have commenced in Dr. Pillai Global Academy, Gorai, Borivali (West). Mahatma Education Society has 4 decades of experience, 40 institutions, 2,000 teachers and over 30,000 students per annum.

Soroptimist International of Chembur and Navi Mumbai
Soroptimist International of Chembur and Navi Mumbai, is a fifteen year old social organization of Professional women in service, striving for women empowerment. The Head quarters SIGBI, Soroptimist International of Great Britain and Ireland is celebrating 75 years as a Federation in the year 2009. The Federation has evolved during an era of societal change and economic uncertainty. It provides career women with a valuable support network and enables them to contribute their mite to society at large. They are the original ‘Professional women with a social conscience’.

OUR SPONSOR
We sincerely thank our sponsor Dr. K. M. Vasudevan Pillai Founder, Secretary, and CEO Mahatma Education Society’s Group of Institutions.

Dr. K. M. Vasudevan Pillai with his penchant for arts has provided us with the exhibition space and all physical and financial resources. Without his help and guidance this event would not have been possible.

The Curator Ms. Usha Nair
Ms. Usha Nair a teacher an artist and a social worker is a picture of a ‘Woman Empowered’. In her early years, Usha faced a lot of problems and difficulties. Today she is a successful teacher in St.Anthony Girls High School, Chembur. She is a Director & Curator for 3D Art Gallery Mahalaxmi Mumbai – a leading firm in the field. She has been organizing exhibitions since 2006.
Right from childhood, Usha has an eye for colour and good art work. She has evolved into a successful curator and organizes exhibitions and group shows of art work of physically challenged and economically underprivileged artists. She derives great satisfaction in providing them a platform to exhibit their talents. She gives them an opportunity to earn a livelihood in a respectable manner. The artists are poor, shy and timid. She helps them in building their confidence and self-esteem. Usha calls them the ‘Lesser Children of God’ and “Taaren Zamin Par”. She believes they have so much to express, so much to say…