Sobha Singh’s magnum opus ‘Bharat Mata’ to be on display
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 8
The six-day Sobha Singh Art Festival will be organised from November 24 to 29 at art village Andretta.
General secretary, Sardar Sobha Art Society, Hirday Paul Singh said during the festival, a recently traced exclusive painting of ‘Bharat Mata’ created by the legendary artist would be displayed. The painting was made in 1947, Paul said.
He added that the festival would be organised to commemorate the 116th birth anniversary of saint-philosopher-artist Sobha Singh. The event will comprise three art workshops and a multi-lingual poetic symposium, besides expert lectures on art and culture. The art festival will be jointly organised by the Sobha Singh Memorial Art Society and North Zone Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
During the six-day art and craft workshop, 25 rural women will be imparted training in art and craft work, including fabric and glass painting. In another workshop on ‘Likhnu’ (a traditional art of Kangra), 10 girls will be imparted training on the age-old and once popular but now almost extinct wall and courtyard art. Forty students will be imparted skills in greeting card making. Since Sobha Singh was also a writer and had penned some poems, a multi-lingual poetic symposium will also be held with some prominent pahari (Kangri), Punjabi and Hindi poets from Himachal and Punjab participating. Expert lectures on art will be arranged during the festival. Participants and visitors will get an opportunity to interact with experts and visit the Sobha Singh Art Gallery, Museum and Studio. “Some posters of Sobha’s original works, art kits and books will be released during festival,” he said. All trainees will be provided free art material and some of them will be awarded also. Famous artist Sobha Singh spent four creative decades at Andretta after he was forced to leave his studio and around 300 invaluable art works at Lahore during the Partition. He passed away in 1986. His birth anniversary is celebrated at Andretta and some other places in Punjab by different organisations. A large number of artists, fans and followers of the late artist and connoisseurs are expected to attend the art extravaganza, besides tourists and general masses.
