The fifth edition of the North East States Exhibition of Art is round the corner. The exhibition, as in the previous years, will get under way at the Lalit Kala Bhavan of Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra from the month-end. Going by the enthusiastic participation on all the three occasions, this time too the exhibition should attract works from all corners of the North East.

The Kalakshetra deserves kudos for organising this event with considerable success so far. It is hoped that the exhibition will be able to maintain its high-profile status this time round as well. Keeping this in view, therefore, it is also hoped that the event will show a marked improvement in the areas that matter, and be shorn of the glitches that had been an aspect of all the previous editions.

One only expects the event to get better and better, with every passing year; and not show any wear and tear or a slide in professionalism.

One of the most prominent aspects observed in the annual event so far is that most of the senior artists of the region are forever conspicuous by their absence. The impression that gains ground is that the senior artists disapprove of the lower age limit for participation, which is just 18 years, and prefer to stay away. In order to do a balancing act and set things right, the organisers could have considered raising the lower age limit to at least 25 years. For the senior artists alone, there could even be a category with 45/50 years and above as the age specification, instead of banking on only the non-competitive section for the purpose. Making this category age-specific and retaining its non-competitive label would do away with a lot of probable misgivings. This might disappoint artists below 25 years of age, but then there is already a nice platform for the youngsters in the form of the National Junior Artists Exhibition organised by Kalakshetra. This is quite adequate a launch-pad for the new talents.

Another trend has been noticeable in all its three previous editions so far. Some works selected for the exhibition tend to reach great heights, while some others raise eyebrows. A handful of works, which seem to be selected simply for the sake of encouragement, even point towards a curious selection policy. There may be some restrictions on participation, therefore, to ensure that the participants truly qualify to take part in an event of this scale.

Another aspect that cannot possibly be argued away is the rush of errors in the titles of works which are extremely repulsive, to say the least. The imperfections can be seen both in the catalogue as well as stickers on the walls. (This is true of other exhibitions as well). Last time, the publication of the catalogue also got delayed, despite a steep hike in the participation fee. One sincerely hopes this would not occur this time, and utmost care will be taken to produce a perfect catalogue.

Overall, it is hoped the organisers will carry on the good work and give the exhibition a solid structure, while ensuring that a true picture of the region’s art scene emerges from the show.

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Debashish Bezbaruah