Rajkumari Sharma Tankha
Glimpses of The Vale as the name suggest is an art exhibition that talks about the Valley alone.
The beautiful locales, the snow-clad hills, the deep ravines, the colourful flowers and pious-looking Kashmiri women dressed in phirens, Artist Sireesha Srinivas has brought to life everything, at the Hungarian Information and Cultural Centre, Janpath, New Delhi.
The show aesthetically curated by Renu Rana, is her first, and was inaugurated by Prof Zargar Zahoor, former Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts, Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, yesterday.
Tomorrow is the last day of the show, so find some time to visit the place; trust me, you wouldn’t be disappointed.
Khel Gaon resident B Sireesha has been painting Kashmir for the last two decades, ever since her husband, IPS Dr Srinivas was transferred to Kashmir. The transfer, though scared her parents, turned into a boon for the artist in her.
The serene natural beauty of Kashmir impressed her no end. The beauty also motivated her enough to bring all those colours on the canvas. But the works on display here are not the work of those 20 years that she spent in Kashmir, but these were done in the last one year after the family came to Delhi.
“Everything I experienced in Kashmir has been etched in my mind, and it wasn’t difficult bringing them out on the canvases,” says Sireesha.
The best part of her works is that they exude happiness. There is no hint of the strife that the Valley has been experiencing due to militancy.
“Kashmir is just like any other place in the country, or the world. I had many bad and ugly experiences too. But it isn’t at all necessary to bring those dark elements out. I simply love the place, and I didn’t want to portray anything negative. I wanted to show the place in positive light,” she says, adding, “Basically, I’m a happy person. Whatever is there in my mind reflects on the canvas.”
Another amazing thing is that this is the first time that Sireesha has attempted landscapes, though the maturity in her works belies that. “Earlier, I used to do only portraits. It was only last year that I decided to experiment with landscapes,” she says.
The art works done in oil on canvas show immense spatial effects and the grandeur of the Valley, be it the bright orange saffron flowers, the colourful shikaras, the house boats or the pure white lambs.
The flora and fauna and the people of Kashmir that were a part of her life seem to have become participants in her artistic drama that has unfolded on the canvas.
“When I was in Kashmir, I loved spending time with nature. I used to sit and watch the ripples on the Dal lake, the colours reflecting on its water, the colours in the sky during sunrise and sun set, the snow clad mountains, and it never failed to enthrall me,” she remarks.
“Through my works I want to tell everyone that Kashmir is not such a bad place, as is portrayed in media. It is such a beautiful place, and people are indeed good,” she smiles.
