Date: 2 August 2025, Saturday
Time: 6:30 PM onwards
Venue: KCC Library
OPEN TO ALL
Arunima Choudhury’s works on display at the solo exhibition āranyaka: Arunima Choudhury’s Recent Works on Nature reveal a deep love for nature, an acute anxiety about its fate, and her experimental use of natural colours. As a public-facing programme under this exhibition, Emami Art presents a discussion on the senior artist’s practice shaped by her life-long familiarity with the natural world, which appears both as a theme and a medium.
This discussion, mainly in Bengali, will feature artist Arunima Choudhury alongside scholar and critic Samik Bandyopadhyay, and academic and art historian Soumik Nandy Majumdar – who will be the moderator and introductory speaker.
About the Speakers:
Arunima Choudhury holds a Diploma in Fine Arts from Indian College of Arts & Draftsmanship, Kolkata, 1974, and a Certificate in Graphic Design & Mass Communication from Chitrabani, Kolkata, 1978. Her solo shows include The Dark Edge of Green curated by Nancy Adajania, Emami Art, Kolkata, 2022; Khela, Seagull Foundation of the Arts, Kolkata, 2007; and Nature as I See, Emami Art, Kolkata, 2020. Her group exhibitions include Freedom & Awakening: Phases I & II, Kolkata Centre for Creativity x Alipore Museum, Kolkata, 2023; Garden of Infinite Desires, Emami Art, Kolkata, 2023; Kolkata: Run in the Alley curated by Praneet Soi and Manuel Klappe, Marres, Netherlands, 2022; Feminine Facets, Emami Art, Kolkata, 2021; and Constellations, Emami Art, Kolkata, 2021, among others. Arunima Choudhury was awarded the Shilpi Maha Samman by West Bengal Rajya Charukala Parshad in 2022. She lives and works in Kolkata.
Samik Bandyopadhyay is a renowned scholar, editor-publisher, translator, lexicographer, and bibliophile who has worked closely on film and theatre in several languages and forms. He was the Rabindranath Tagore National Fellow at the School for Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi, and Member, Publication Committee, Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. He was Vice-Chairman, National School of Drama; and Member National School of Drama Society. His vast experience includes stints as Producer Emeritus, All India Radio and Doordarshan, 1989-92; Research Professor, Asiatic Society, Calcutta; Member, General Council, Sangeet Natak Akademi (2 consecutive terms) and Central Board of Film Certification; and Member, 14-Member Indian Delegation to the East-West Theatre Seminar organized by the International Theatre Institute, New Delhi. He has translated plays and fiction and has also contributed several essays in numerous film and theatre periodicals in English and Bengali.
Soumik Nandy Majumdar, a faculty member in the Department of History of Art at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, has been teaching the history of Indian and East Asian art for the last 25 years. He graduated from Viswa Bharati, Santiniketan and completed his Masters from MSU, Baroda. Majumdar has published several essays in national and international journals and has written exhibition catalogues for prominent artists. Significant shows curated by him include 8 Bengal Masters: Miracles of Existence, on behalf of Akar Prakar at Musee des Arts Asiatiques de Nice, Nice, France, May 2015; Compelling Presence – Jogen Choudhury Retrospective Show at NGMA, Bengaluru; and Jogen Chowdhury Show at Kalakriti, Hyderabad in 2016.