3-day exhibition in Kolkata showcases artwork by jail inmates

Kolkata: In a unique initiative, an NGO, with the support of the West Bengal government, is hosting a three-day exhibition to showcase paintings made by the inmates of a correctional home.

The show — 'Aitijya - Our Heritage' — has given the inmates of Dum Dum Central Correctional Home a platform to display their creativity and earn money for three days, beginning November 19, Chaitali Das, the managing trustee of NGO Rakshak Foundation, said on Tuesday.

Thirty-four canvases, painted by 10 women inmates and four male inmates, have been regaling art enthusiasts at the Indian Museum courtyard here, on the occasion of 'World Heritage Week',

she said.

"Eight acrylic paintings, themed on the city's heritage, have already been booked on the first two days. We are expecting the response to get better," she said.

Over the past few years, Rakshak Foundation, with the help of Directorate of Correctional Services, has held several workshops for prison inmates to acquaint them with canvas and paints, Das stated.

"As part of these workshops, the women and the men were also taught how to weave the canvas and set it on a frame," she added.

Arun Kumar Gupta, the director general of Correctional Home Services of West Bengal, said the exhibition gave the inmates an opportunity to express themselves through their works of art.

"We had started facilitating painting workshops for the women inmates, as well as their children, at Dum Dum Correctional Home to enable them to express their feelings.

Later on, four male inmates of the same correctional home also joined the initiative," he explained.

Celebrated painter Wasim Kapoor, who visited the exhibition, congratulated the inmates on their achievement.

"The creativity of these prison inmates, who have not been trained earlier in their lives, is no less than that of trained professionals," he added.