Odisha to host 40-day mega triennial in Dec-Jan

Odisha will play host to what is billed as India's first private sector triennial in December-January that will see the convergence of artists from the national and international scene during the 40-day mega event.

Named the Odisha Triennial of International Art (OTIA), the events under it will take place in Bhubaneshwar, Puri and Konark.

OTIA is the brainchild of Artists Network for Promoting Indian Culture (ANPIC), headed by its Managing Trustee Sashanka Mohapatra.

Art historian Johny ML has been named the curatorial director, Mumbai-based artist and educationist Rajendra Patil the mentor-director and Kshitish Das the coordinator of the triennial.

Top artists like Jatin Das, Sudhir Patwardhan, Prabhakar Kolte, K S Radhakrishnan, Ravinder Reddy, Jogen Chowdhury and Laxma Gowd are expected to be a part of OTIA.

"Odisha has created several geniuses in art and culture. OTIA will be an international platform where global artists will be able to exhibit their works along with those from India and Odisha in particular," says Mohapatra, also the founder director of OTIA.

"I have envisioned an international triennial in which the local aesthetics will stand shoulder to shoulder with the international art. My idea is to create a 'glocal' feeling about art and culture through the OTIA platform by integrating art, music, dance, theatre, film, craft and literature," says Johny ML.

The slogan of the triennial is 'Conceive-Contemplate-Communicate'.

'When East met West', 'It's Indian, by the way', 'Turning the Wheel', 'Gods of the Earth', 'Sapiens', 'In This Great Future' and 'Along the Way' are the seven sections which would bring together Indian contemporary artists, Indian modernists, international contemporary artists, Odisha folk and tribal artists, India's contemporary experimental artists and the graffiti and performance artists.

There will also be a series of seminars involving experts and scholars from the fields of films, theatre, art, music, performance and new media art.

"Odisha is well equipped to receive great personalities of Indian as well as international art. OTIA will also give a boost to the tourism and cultural infrastructure development of the state," says Lok Sabha member from the state Pinaki Misra, who is also an advisor to ANPIC.