Celebrating the recent surge in tiger population in the country, Hyderabadi painter
Fawad Tamkanat has curated an art show dedicated to the majestic cat. Currently on display at State Art Gallery, the show titled ‘Tiger’, as Fawad puts, “Is a celebration of the big cat’s amazing facial features and the increase in its population in the last four years in India.” Buoyed by the fact that tiger numbers are expected to go past the 3,000 mark from 2226 in 2014 in the upcoming tiger census scheduled for release soon, this exhibition was put together as an endeavour to rejoice that hope.
Fawad has roped in 80 artists, both emerging and established, from all over the country to contribute towards the exhibition that displays 81 tiger masks painted on fiberglass. “Being an ardent animal lover, I have been sketching animals for various NGOs for many years now. I wanted to do something for tiger conservation with focus on the animal’s significance in our cultural and societal milieu,” he says, adding that the inspiration for the exhibition stemmed from his urge to give his sketches a three-dimensional shape.
“A couple of years back, I made a few sketches of tiger masks and wanted to develop them into 3-D figures. Three-dimensional representations of sketches have splendid vigour, vitality and appeal differently to onlookers. So, I got in touch with an 80-year-old traditional sculptor from Kolkata and sent him seven to eight of my drawings, asking him to make 20-inch to 16-inch 3D masks. Though I was not impressed with the initial product, he soon sent some amazing sculptures after I
explained to him what I wanted in detail,” he says.
Pleased with the results, Fawad gave him bulk orders to make around 30 big and 70 small masks from his drawings. Prod him how he managed to rope in so many artists for the show and if it was a tedious task, and Fawad says he has been explaining his thoughts about the show to the artists personally for the past one year. “I know a lot of artists from India and abroad and have been monitoring their work for a long time. I have only chosen figurative artists with a considerable body of narrative work for this project,” he says, adding that though a lot of artists showed interest in the project, he chose only those who have a genuine love for animals.
“Firstly, I wanted to have a healthy mix of established and emerging artists in the group. And being an animal lover, I wanted only artists who share my feelings about the voiceless creatures. This exhibition is not for fun but for a cause and it’s very important to me. I couldn’t have compromised on it and I didn’t,” he says, emphasising that not a single artwork is similar to the other because he didn’t let the artists view each other’s works till the last minute. “A few artists put up pictures of their masks on social media but I asked them to pull it down and they obliged. I wanted to keep it exclusive with not a single artist influencing the other’s work,” Fawad says.
From mythological tales, ancient scriptures, social issues to picturesque landscapes and erotica, each mask features a different mood keeping the individuality of its creator intact. “I have been working on themes such as urbanisation and human encroachment of natural land for quite some time and this opportunity came as a blessing. While painting my tiger mask, I have used a creeper and silhouette of leaves to represent nature and have kept the background white to symbolise peace. I have also drawn vague miniature buildings in the background to signify the insignificance of human establishments in this world. In short, my mask celebrates co-existence of human beings and animals on this planet,” says Sweta Pavan, an alumni of Shantiniketan, Kolkata.
Another artist in the group, Farhad Tamkanat, has used his tried-and-tested techniques, colours and figurative to paint his imagery on the tiger mask. Speaking of which he says, “I took one week to paint the fiberglass-crafted mask. I have drawn a woman figure on the neck of the mask to notify the soft part of a human body and have used my favourite colours (green, orange, red and black) to create a unique imagery on the mask which I usually do on canvas,” he says.
Choosing fiberglass as a medium for the 3-D masks was an easy decision for Fawad. “Fiberglass has certain properties that makes it an excellent medium for painting and preservation. It’s economical and easy to paint compared to mediums such as brass. Fiberglass also lasts long and is easy to maintain. I also of thought of using paper mache, but it’s no match to fiberglass when it comes to having a longer-life,” he says, adding, “We initially thought of making a big tiger out of fiberglass but later decided against it considering the expenses.”
Fawad adds that the exhibition is strictly a charity art show and its proceeds will go to World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to help address issues related to tiger conservation — to buy cameras to monitor tigers’ movements, conduct scientific research to help formulate conservation strategies, reduce human-tiger conflict and more. “We have organised it without any sponsors and will be donating the proceeds from it to WWF. But after subtracting the expenses and remuneration of the artists, of course,” he says.
In the second phase of the exhibition, ‘Tiger’ will be travelling to multiple cities that includes Mumbai, Delhi and Singapore. “We will organise an exhibition in Mumbai on the
International Tiger Day on July 29. Thereafter, ‘Tiger’ will travel to Delhi and Singapore. I am also planning to add a new set of artists to the existing group for these shows,” Fawad says, signing off.
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