Durga Puja 2023

For the past few decades in Bengal, art and society have been intrinsically intertwined with Durga Puja. Recently, Durga Puja received the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage tag, largely due to the efforts of Tapati Guha-Thakurta. Alongside this, the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war is knocking on the doors of a third world war; furthermore, after nearly a century, we have lived through the harrowing experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lingering effects of which still persist. In such a volatile climate, being a contemporary artist places the very concept of “art for Puja” before a mirror of society, confronting critical questions. Beyond this, geopolitics, political decay, the naked face of sociological realities, shattered humanity, and helpless democracy leave an artist’s soul wounded, both within and without. To the common person, leading a healthy and normal life seems almost like an elusive dream. Hence, an artist’s perspective continuously shifts as torn pages from the diary of memory flutter by, transforming into a form of collage/montage that births a metamorphosis. This uneven blending of the aesthetics of the impossible creates a kind of “fusion”. The heart asks: if one does not act from the depths of one’s soul alongside the pulse of the times, then what is the purpose of all “this celebration and loud clamor?” Thus, spanning from mythology to Time and Space (Mahakal and Kali), traversing Semi-Abstract Expressionism, and incorporating the works and patachitra traditions of the world-renowned maestro Jamini Roy, who broke the mold of last century’s Kalighat patachitra to forge an original visual language, all these elements converge to shape this year’s experiment (montage). The essence of Durga Puja and worshiping the Mother lies in the vanquishing of evil and the welcoming of benevolence, the slaying of the demon within and without. Moving from “light emanating from the depths of darkness” and “this darkness, like the mysterious sister of light,” the journey heads toward luminescence: “The Journey Towards...” The flute of your light has begun to play, a journey from the very beginning, taking heart and soul as far as your infinite expanse can reach...