The fifth edition of the North East States Exhibition of Art, which got under way at Kalakshetra on November 28, has risen head and shoulders above the previous four in terms of the consistency it has maintained over quality. With a comparatively larger number of high-quality works that have adorned the walls this time at the Lalit Kala gallery, the mega event has reached a certain standard and this raises expectations from the future editions even more.

An important aspect of this edition is the participation of artists from across the North East region. In achieving that, the annual event has come as close as possible to presenting a collective picture of art produced in the last couple of years in the region. It would be wrong to surmise that the exhibition is representative of the much wider category – the art of the North East – which is a composite field including different folk arts, crafts and distinctive indigenous art forms of the region. In this era of globalisation, it is difficult to find folk traditions in their pristine state, too. It is also not as if the artists from different states of the region today send entries that carry their respective cultural identities, so as to allow the exhibition to have a composite character. The NE exhibition does not seem to have such pretensions, neither can we expect to get a perfect panoramic view of the contemporary art scene of the region in it – because it is the entries that determine the final picture in such competitive events, which many artists prefer to stay away from. It is pointless, therefore, to think about their works not being sent, but then this can’t rob its glory either.

Participation is always important. Those whose works were not selected should not feel disheartened. Rather, they must get fired up and utilise this as an opportunity to motivate themselves, to transform this into something creative. We expect them to come back next year. Similarly, while the award winners and commendation certificate winners deserve congratulations, neither they nor those who fell short should read too much into it. There are many exhibits on display at the exhibition that certainly knocked on the door of awards. The same goes for those who certainly missed commendation by a whisker. It would be better to view the award-winning and commended entries as the firsts among many equals. Hopefully, the winners would not sit on the laurels and those who felt they had a chance would take it in their stride and get on with their creative pursuit.

Over a hundred works have been selected from nearly three hundred entries. An overall view of the exhibition shows that terror has not cast its spell in the works in an emphatic way, inspite of many states being hit through the year. Rather than reacting to the gory present, the artists have, by and large, concentrated on their individual idioms, styles and techniques. While the artists have avoided too much experimentations, they have handled themes that have a more timeless or universal appeal. While the categories of painting, sculpture and graphics show a good distribution of quality works, the drawing section seems to have witnessed a thin participation. There are, on the other hand, a few exhibits that are aimed at giving visual pleasure alone, and not unlike previous editions, a couple of works looked like punctuations.

The exhibition continues till December 28.

d.bezbarua@yahoo.co.in

Debashish Bezbaruah