The third edition of the Kolkata Street Arts Festival (KSAF) 2020 is scheduled to take place on January 12th Sunday 2020, Hindustan Park Road, Kolkata.
The Kolkata Street Arts Festival aims to celebrate and revive the rich culture and heritage of Bengal and provide a platform to all artists, veterans as well as budding, to showcase their talents and creativity.
Last year’s KSAF saw a footfall of 10,000 people and successful associations with the print, radio and outdoor medias helped in garnering extensive visibility.
This year the festival is back with its 3rd edition and artist Avanish Trivedi is all set to showcase his art at the festival too.
For Avanish Trivedi, his creative journey began way back when as a kid, he used to draw, paint and sketch on drawing books that his grandfather used to get for him. And as luck would have it, his aunt (father’s sister) worked for the Centre for Modern Art in Kolkata and this helped him gain a better foothold over visual art forms!
Well, in a world full of art expressions, how does he make the final choice? Avanish says ‘This comes from years of practice and a keen eye to capture and illustrate that fails to capture the naked eye’.
Once the capital of British-ruled India, Kolkata has long been a breeding ground for intellectual, political, and artistic movements and it is one of the largest Indian cities, which continues to develop as a center of Indian culture, with many independent art galleries and this has proved to be a boon for Avanish as he makes a mark in this field with each of his milestones.
While during childhood, Avanish kept practicing various visual art forms out of his interest, there existed a long gap of nearly a decade when he could not pursue his interest owing to a financial setback that his family experienced. It was when he joined TCS way back in 2007 that one of his colleagues egged him to pursue his talent and explore avenues to evolve his embryonic skill. This became his turning point that set the brush-stroke rolling as Avanish took to his arty journey in a well-structured and dedicated manner.
Thus Avanish joined Birla Academy of Art and Culture in Kolkata and met his mentor Jiban Biswas, who shaped, nurtured and sculpted Avanish to what he is today! And Avanish indeed ascribes his success to Jiban.
For Avanish, the decade long break seemed inconsequential, for in no time Jiban, the studio, his fellow artists paved his path. Avanish says “Jiban saw the passion in me and ensured that I unlearnt and learnt the art form to perfection, he taught me how to compose, how to best leverage colours and how to sketch”.
Well, this was Jiban’s routine for 3 years and it didn’t come easy! Post his working hours, he would head to the studio and spend a good 4 hours or more. The studio became his home during weekends. Did it ever tire him and Avanish is quick to say “I never found it tiring, albeit a hectic routine. In fact I drew my energy through painting”.
The overwhelming impression of a close chance meeting with MF Hussain is a memory that Avanish cherishes. It was during one of his visits to an art gallery in Kolkata with his aunt, wherein he met MF Hussain – a modern Indian painter of international acclaim, and a founding member of The Progressive Artists Group of Bombay. And Hussain’s words of wisdom yet enthuses Avanish to keep igniting the spark in him! Avanish avers “MF Hussain spoke about how it is not all about drawing but expressing oneself and one’s thoughts through picture forms”.
From office to art fairs, gallery openings to curatorial tours and interactive activities, Avanish’s day is long-drawn and demanding.
Avanish has been a regular at exhibitions – from being an attendee to putting up solo exhibitions since 2010, at prominent places in Kolkata. Well, it’s indeed an achievement par excellence for him despite his long break and lack of practice that now seems undetectable!
“My unceasing source of encouragement are my parents and my spouse”, says Avanish, who enjoys Indian classical music, photography and yoga apart from painting. He is also keen to impart his knowledge – free of cost – to all those who are keen and passionate about this art form.