BHARATI PAWASKAR
All of us are born artists. As a child we all were creative enough to draw and paint well. Our imaginations led us to create places we never visited or things we never saw, yet we could create them on a piece of paper with pencil, pen or paintbrush. As we grew up, most of us lost in touch of canvas and colours. And they could never take a brush in their hands again. Was it so hard? Where did all our artistry go?
Here’s an artist who has taken a vow to instill in us that forgotten love for the art that we nurtured so dearly as a child but lost as we grew up. Pravin Mishra, a visual artist and a communication designer based in Ahmedabad is all set to teach Goans the ABCD of art “ form, shape, perspective, light and shadow, tools and mediums etc.
“Because we believe that there is an inherent artist in all of us, all it needs is to find its own path through a passionate mentor at the helm. The sessions of ABCD are designed to sensitize the eyes to visual narratives in the surroundings and nurture aesthetics. They attempt to make a learner capable to visualising and sharing ideas in a visual form,” states Pravin, a graduate from Government College of Art and Crafts, Kolkata and a post-graduate from National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad whose solo exhibitions were held at the Hutheesing Visual Art Centre in Ahmedabad, Visual Art Gallery in New Delhi, and Epicentre in Gurugram.
Pravin also has several awards to his credit. An associate professor and director of the Crafting Creative Communication (CCC) program at MICA, Ahmedabad, for the last decade, he has been conducting ABCD workshops in several prestigious institutes across India and abroad and is now set to open up ABCD workshops for virtually everybody who always wanted to draw but never got that push or mentorship. “Initially these are going to be two-day weekend workshops in various cities of India,” briefs Pravin whose solo shows across India have won accolades.
Anybody who has a strong desire to learn drawing can enrol for the ABCD workshop. “No, ABCD workshop doesn’t promise to make you an artist. But it will surely make you see things differently and will kill the inhibitions that surround drawing. It’s a myth that you need to be a skilled person to be able to draw. Professionals, retired professionals, home-makers or college students, virtually anybody who is an adult, can attend our workshop,” smiles Pravin, an award winning filmmaker, painter and newspaper columnist based in Ahmedabad where he created a mural on a wall, depicting the city’s diversity along with a group of his students.
Pravin’s first film, an animated short film ‘Dharamveer’ won the national critics award at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) in 2004. This film was his diploma project at NID. His next film Azadnagar & Gulamnagar, about bonded labourers in India, won the best short film at the Ahmedabad International Film Festival. Pravin also directed a music video for Indian ghazal singer Jagjit Singh called ‘Ye Kaisi Aazadi Hai’ about the right to social security in India. Born as the youngest of six siblings in Murshidabad, West Bengal in India, Pravin recalls painting number-plates of vehicles and billboards during his school days. Believing that art is divine, this professor is all set to break the barriers that people have in their minds about drawing.
“We all are born artists, but we don’t survive in the educational system. All these years I was teaching art in the classrooms and I saw the lives of the students transform after putting them on the track of art. Even their parents confess this and ask if there was anything I could do for them. Those were emotional moments that compelled me to think”, states Pravin who thought of doing something for those who wanted to get in touch with art.
“I now intend to bring art out of the classroom and take it to people. ABCD is for all those (from 18 to 81 years of age) who want to revive their lost touch with art - these can be retired persons, homemakers, working men and women, elderly, even those who are ailing. Art is healing. It soothes everybody. Those who were not lucky enough to find a mentor can attend ABCD and fulfil their unfulfilled aspirations. I don’t promise to make them a great artist, but yes, they can try to be one! At least, they don’t leave their bucket list incomplete,” assures Pravin who has emerged as a hope for those who want to take in art.
