Date: 20 February 2026
Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Venue: KCC Library
OPEN TO ALL
As part of the exhibition PURVAI - Printmaking in Eastern India: Pedagogy to Practice (9 January - 7 March 2026) curated by Dr Paula Sengupta at Emami Art, Kolkata, we welcome four of the participating printmakers -- Ananya Dalal, Priyanka Lodh, Rahul Sarkar, and Subrat Kumar Behera -- to deliver a presentation on their respective practices.
PURVAI maps the role of art institutions in fostering printmaking in Eastern India, where infrastructural needs have kept the medium closely tied to pedagogy. Bringing together both regional practitioners and artists connected through practice, the exhibition and its public-facing events delve into why printmaking is indelibly intertwined with pedagogy to a far greater degree than are other disciplines of visual art.
Moderated by Dr Paula Sengupta, this event will give the audience a chance to know more about four printmakers’ work and influences. Each artist will get a slot of 20 mins to put forward their presentations.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Ananya Dalal (b. 1993), based in Santiniketan, holds a BFA and an MVA from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan and MSU, Baroda respectively, and is pursuing a PhD from MSU. She has had a solo show in Europe and group shows in China, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. Her works are part of collections at Cincinnati Art Museum, USA; Gallery ARK, Vadodara; and Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata; among others. Dalal won the National Academy Award, Lalit Kala Akademi (2017); Bombay Art Society Annual Award (2017); BAAC Printmaking Award (2025, 2019); and the State Academy Award, West Bengal (2019), among others.
Priyanka Lodh (b. 1995), based in Kolkata, holds a BFA in Painting from the College of Visual Arts, Kolkata, and an MFA in Printmaking from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. Her works have been featured in The Excavator Etchings: Celebrating 35 Years of Gallery Sanskriti, KCC, Kolkata (2025); CIMA Awards Show (2025); Terrain Art Wave (2024); and Sanat Kar Memorial Award Exhibition (2024); among others. Her accolades include the Lalit Kala Akademi Research Grant, Garhi Scholarship (2022-23), Jogen Chowdhury Centre for Arts Scholarship (2022) and the Kala Sakshi Memorial Trust Art Scholarship (2021-22).
Rahul Sarkar (b. 2001), based in Santiniketan, holds a BFA from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata (2023) and an MFA from Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan (2025). Notable exhibitions include IMAGINARIUM 5.0, Emami Art, Kolkata (2025); 10th Young Santiniketan Artist's Exhibition, SSVAD, Santiniketan (2025); Printed Voices from India: Social and Cultural Reflections, Kennedy Heights Art Center and Off Ludlow Gallery, Cincinnati (2024); and Voices from India & Human Rights: Social and Cultural Reflections, Nine Fish Art Gallery, Mumbai (2024), among others. He was the third awardee at IMAGINARIUM 5.0: Emami Art All India Open Call 2025.
Subrat Kumar Behera (b. 1988), based in Odisha, holds a BFA in Printmaking from B.K. College of Art and Crafts, Bhubaneswar (2008) and a Post Diploma from the Faculty of Fine Arts, M.S. University, Baroda (2013). Notable exhibitions include The Print: Matter in Matrix by Latitude 28 at Sridharani Gallery, New Delhi (2020); Bhubaneshwar Art Trail (2018); Forming in the Pupil of an Eye, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2016); and Between the Lines, NGMA, Mumbai (2013). He received the Gujarat State Lalit Kala Award (2012, 2013) and the National Young Artist Scholarship from the Ministry of Culture (2010).
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Dr Paula Sengupta is an artist-pedagogue, curator, and art writer. She is Professor and Head of the Department of Graphics-Printmaking, and former Dean of the Faculty of Visual Arts, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata. Her curatorial projects include The Excavator Etchings for Gallery Sanskriti, Kolkata, 2025; Living a Dark Night for The Kala Chaupal Trust, Gurgaon, 2021-23; a soul (un)gendered: Anupam Sud - A Retrospective for DAG MODERN, 2019-20; Ghare Baire at the Old Currency Building, Kolkata for DAG MODERN and the ASI, 2019; Popular Prints and the Freedom Struggle at the Drishyakala Museum, Red Fort, Delhi for DAG MODERN and the ASI, 2019; among several others.
