Mumbai just saw the first-ever Tibetan Thanka exhibition

Here's an artist who painted the Dalai Lama in vibrant colours that capture his twinkling eyes and smiling face. The artwork was courtesy artist Sudhir Katkar, who presented the first-ever Tibetan Thanka exhibition of its kind called Calm, at an art gallery in South Mumbai, recently. The Thanka form – a scroll-banner painting style – is along the lines of the old Tibetan Buddhist wall paintings, that were hung up in monasteries.It is created on cotton and silk appliqué, and depicts the life of the Buddha, as well as Lamas and other deities and Bodhisattvas. These art works have a prominent place in culture as they are both art and religious works.

The highlights of this exhibition that is being held till Nov 18 at Jehangir Art Gallery, feature Thanka installations in oil paint. The city’s art lovers dropped in to see the artworks and on closer inspection, they saw that these huge (10x14 feet) Thanka installations are actually hundreds of Sudhir Katkar’s paintings stitched together along with other paintings.

“I am so excited by Thanka, which brings the unique coming together of art and spiritualism, I decided to put this concept in my paintings for my 8th solo show at Jehangir Art Gallery for the art connoisseurs of Mumbai,” says the artist who once painted cinema posters under a peepal tree to pay fees for his education at JJ School of Arts. He adds, “If I correctly understand that this is for the first time that any artist has ventured to do so especially with the Thanka installations.”
Katkar is recognized for his abstract paintings, many of which have captured tradition and culture of Maharashtra through temples, villages, festivals and fishmongers. He also admits to being inspired by the picturesque of Ladakh and Himalayas whose landscapes, people, monasteries and sports have found expression on his canvas. His latest work on Kerala focuses on the backwaters in detail.