India's first Print Biennale opens at the Lalit Kala Akademi

In keeping with its role as the country's National Academy of Art, the Lalit Kala Akademi is hosting the first ever 'International Print Biennale' in the country with a record number of 17 countries participating in it.

The exhibition which opened on March 25 at the Rabindra Bhavan Galleries, had eminent artist and printmaker, Shakti Barman as the Chief Guest along with the Biennale commissioner, Anupam Sud and its steering committee members: Ananda Moy Banerji, Dattatraya Apte, R.S. Sham Sunder, Paila Sen Gupta and Vijay Bagodi. The ceremony also witnessed the launch of 'Samkaleen Kala', a Lalit Kala Akademi journal.

"It was around the 1980s that I first happened to get introduced to the lithography medium of printmaking. All of a sudden, lithography had become very popular. But with time, its trend, as well as practising spaces and studios got demolished and now, we have very few of them. I believe, that this grand endeavour by the Akademi will help it gain back its popularity," said Barman at the inauguration.

Culture Minister of India, Dr Mahesh Sharma couldn't attend the inauguration function due to personal reasons, but he sent his best regards through a message, which said, "Printmaking is a means of fine expression. I appreciate the outstanding effort of the Akademi to contribute towards and make us aware of the contemporary trends in art."

CS Krishna Setty, Administrator LKA, in his welcoming address on the Biennale stated, "The aim behind conducting such an event is to endeavour a quest for discovering new artistic trends in printmaking nationally, as well as globally, and to explore new ideas in the field. The Lalit Kala Akademi is creating history once again today; in its 64 years of history, the Akademi is organizing this first ever Print Biennale of India, for the first time."

With countries like USA, UK, Sri Lanka, Italy, Mexico, China, Israel, Sweden, Lithuania, Poland, Argentina, Greece, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Mauritius participating in this exhibition, the Biennale has elicited global interest.