– The works of three young artists from Lucknow were honored and appreciated in Ranthambore, Rajasthan.
Lucknow: International Tiger Day is celebrated all over the world on 29 July every year. The Government of India started Project Tiger in the year 1973 with the aim of providing protection to tigers. With this, many tiger reserves were established. Many types of policies were made, so that hunting of tigers could be stopped, work could be done to increase their numbers.
Due to which there are a total of 54 tiger reserves in India and the number of tigers here is increasing, not decreasing. This day is celebrated every year with the aim of knowing the reasons for the decreasing number of tigers as well as making people aware about their conservation.
Tigers play an important role in keeping our ecosystem healthy and maintaining its diversity. On this occasion, a four-day exhibition and painting camp was organized in Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan under the joint aegis of Jaipur Art Summit, Rajasthan Tourism and Astral Pipe. 21 painters from different states of the country participated in this camp, out of which three young painters from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Bhupendra Kumar Asthana, Sanjay Raj and Deependra Singh also participated and gave the message of awareness to the people for tiger conservation through their paintings along with the display of their art.
All the artists created two works each in the camp. Along with the camp, young curator Bhupendra Asthana of Lucknow also organized an exhibition of works of 18 artists from across the country, which was also appreciated by the people. Collector of Sawai Madhopur Ranthambore Dr. Khushal Yadav, Mohammad Yunus ji (Scientist – E Rajiv Gandhi Regional Natural History Museum Forest and Environment Ranthambore Sawai Madhopur Rajasthan) and Dr. Dharmendra Khandal
Conservation Biologist Tiger Watch, Superintendent of Police of Sawai Madhopur Mamta Gupta, DCF Ranthambore Tiger Reserve Ramanand Bhakar, Assistant Tourism Director Madhusudan Singh, SDM Lakheri Kailash Gurjar etc. and a large number of people visited this exhibition and praised it. During this program, Lucknow Book Fair Coordinator Manoj S Chandel from Lucknow, Editor Alok Paradkar, Jaipur Art Summit Founder Shailendra Bhatt, Camp Curator Vijay Kumawat, Amit Kalla and all the artists were present.
Regarding the work created in Ranthambore National Park Art Camp, Bhupendra Kumar Asthana (Painter, Curator and Art Writer) said that if we do not respect nature, then nature will destroy us. This is not just a thing but the truth. We see its result every day but we are so engrossed in the blind race of development that we cannot even hear the voice of nature and the creatures living in it.
Development at the cost of continuously causing damage to the environment will affect future generations. This is not just a prophecy but a moment-to-moment event which we ignore by calling it natural disasters. Imagine a world, a society where there are only huge skyscrapers made of cement and stones and no trees, plants, animals or birds are visible far and wide. If there are only men and buildings and an artificial world is created with the pictures and statues of trees, plants, animals and birds and they show their future, then what kind of time will that be and what kind of world will it be, will such a world even exist or not. Will we even exist or not. Will no natural scene be visible. We will have to stop a little from the blind race of progress and development and realize what we are doing.
Taking these thoughts into consideration, I have drawn on a 2×2 feet canvas in pen and ink. It is a fusion of folk and contemporary. Also, the wildlife in it is representing every wildlife. Also, there is a message to save trees, water, air, soil etc. If nature survives, only then will the creatures survive and if creatures survive, then we humans will survive. Everyone is dependent on each other. Lucknow’s young painter Sanjay Raj told that I am from Bundelkhand Hamirpur Uttar Pradesh, currently working as a freelancer in Lucknow. For the last several years, I have been closely observing and feeling the increasing urbanization and the constantly affected nature, and the man running in the hustle and bustle of development in the city and the changing nature. Due to which man is not able to give time to either himself or nature, the result of which is that he has forgotten his real nature.
In today’s time of busy life, man is able to give time to nature only on screen, social media, mobile, there is no time at all to feel nature and live with it. Nowadays, man plants trees so that their image can be uploaded on social media but after a few days the same tree dries up because no one has time to take care of it and understand it, the result is that the environment is changing rapidly. Therefore, man should understand nature, spend some time close to it and give it time. I have tried to bring the energy of nature and contemporary environment through color in the paintings.
The third artist from Lucknow, Deependra Singh, said that I have depicted the authority with the tiger through calligraphy which is fulfilling its responsibility to protect our tigers and the number of our tigers is increasing. Because of which our tigers are safe. In the second work, the nature and environment of Ranthambore, its architecture is depicted through visual and calligraphy, I work with script, and through it I create my artwork. During this program, the artists were also taken on a tour of Ranthambore Fort, Safari and other important places.
