Seventy-five printmakers from different states churned out rare gems during a six-day national printmaking workshop

Puneet Kaur Thind

Art takes countless forms, each one telling a unique story. One such intriguing form of artistic expression is printmaking, a dynamic process that combines technique, imagination, and innovation.

The National Printmaking Workshop was organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi (National Academy of Art), in cooperation with the Government College of Art, Chandigarh and Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi. This event celebrated the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence.

The workshop hosted 75 distinguished printmakers, 24 from Chandigarh and 51 from other states of India. The artists brought their own unique contributions to the printmaking art form. Some of the notable printmakers present were, Ramendranath Kastha, Vilas Shinde, Vijay Bagodi, Walter d’Souza, Ajit Seal, Subroto Mondal, Sridhar Murthy, Sunil Lal, Chhipa Sudhakar, Murali Das PV, Pritam Deokari, Rakesh Bani, Mahesh Prajapati, Ishwar Dayal, Nutan Dhiman, JP Singh, Reena Bhatnagar, Dalwinder Singh, Rahul Dhiman, Pritpal Singh.

The six-day long workshop welcomed visitors at the Printmaking Studios of Government College of Art, Chandigarh, and CLKA Open Hand Art Studios in Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19, Chandigarh.

On Saturday, before the closing ceremony, the printmakers churned out rare gems from the ocean of their evolved creative wisdom. Bheem Malhotra, chairman CLKA, Chandigarh, saidd, “Many from the city participated in the workshop and the response has been good. All participants embodied the true spirit of the theme—Ek Bharat Sresheth Bharat. Over the time, different methods of printmaking emerged, each with its own distinctive characteristics and creative possibilities.”