On this occasion, Mukhtali Mukherjee, Debapriya Pal and Subhrasankha Nanda from Mentaid presented songs while Arpan Roy recited Jibanananda Das’s poem.

Well-known cartoonists Anup Roy, Subhendu Dasgupta, Uday Deb, Swapan Debnath, Rituparno Basu,Chiranjit Samanta, and Tapas Mandal – all members of the Cartoon Dal – painted T shirts, while reputed artists, Apurba Pal, Biraj Kumar Paul,  Dhiren Shasmal, Dilip Chaudhuri, Subrata Das Partha Roy and Sekhar Kar created artworks for the production of various utility objects like table mats, coffee mugs and calendars.

These utility objects and the painted T shirts will be sold at an exhibition to be held shortly, and the sales proceeds will be donated to Mentaid, a Kolkata-based NGO working for the welfare of the intellectually challenged for over 28 years, and the  Rotary Club of Calcutta  Mega City for their charitable work.

This art workshop was held as a part of PRAYAS 2015 – a unique art initiative of Chemould, in association with Smita Art, aimed at providing a platform to upcoming and senior contemporary artists of West Bengal to interact closely and share their views and ideas.

From June 30, 2015, nine 5-day exhibitions have so far been held --  at each of which the paintings and sculptures of eight to ten artists have been displayed.

Also organised as a part of PRAYAS 2015, was an ‘Art Adda’  on July 31, 2015 – informal discussions on ‘The Future of Installation Art’, veering around the Durga Puja being considered as a platform for installation art, the sustainability of installation art, and its preservation. The participants were Adip Dutta, Bhabotosh Sutar, Chhatrapati Dutta, Nobina Gupta, Samindranath Majumdar and Sushanta Paul, with Chhatrapati Dutta as the moderator.

For more details, contact: Arundhati Gupta or Sujoy Ghosh  of Corporate Communication and Allied Services, Kolkata, at  98301 67506 or 98310 96180.