India, with its vast cultural history has documented evidence of writing, right from 3rd Century BCE, with ‘Edicts of Ashoka’ in Brahmi script. Brahmi is considered by many to be the mother of many scripts found in the Indian subcontinent. Today, India boasts of a vast linguistic and scriptural diversity which has tremendous possibilities for creating designs from letterforms. It is imperative that calligraphers and designers utilise this opulence to create designs and styles which will showcase India’s unique culture to the world.
Amrita Amodkar with her art work at the Jehangir Art Gallery
Achyut Palav is one such calligrapher who has taken Devanagari and Modi to the world stage, showcasing his works all around the world, through exhibitions and demonstrations. Today, after four decades of a phenomenal career as a calligrapher and designer, Achyut Palav is now poised to launch his exhibition and book, AksharBharati, at Jehangir Art Gallery, on 28th January 2025. Honourable Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Mr. Devendra Fadnavis will be inaugurating the exhibition as well as launching the book ‘AksharBharati’, in presence of chief guest Mr. Anil Gala, Executive Director of Publishing and HR at Navneet Education.
Amrita presenting her art work to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis
The book Akshar Bharati – the letters of our nation, is a collection of incredible calligraphic artworks by various artists in India, in a variety of scripts. Some of the scripts which have been included are Bengali, Gurumukhi, Jaina Devanagari, Avestan, Siddham, Modi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu to name a few. Along with the beautiful calligraphy art, insightful articles by Ganesh Devy, Dr. Santosh Kshirsagar, Dr. Balsekar, G.V. Sreekumar, Narayan Bhattathiri and Ashok Parab can also be found in this book. Selective artworks from the book, shall be on display at Jehangir Art Gallery and include works by Achyut Palav, Amrita Amodkar, Harshada Salgaonkar, Perin Pudumjee Coyaji, Pooja Gaydhani, Rupali Thombare, Shrikant Gawande and Trupti Mane Furia.
Knowledge dissemination about different scripts and languages, such as through this book and exhibition, will help people appreciate the fact that despite appearing so distinct from each other, all are still a part of an united India. This is truly the epitome of ‘Unity in Diversity’. Respect for each other’s languages and traditions can lead to the harmonious growth of our society. This shall also inspire future generations to champion the cause of preservation of our scripts. This beauty of our scripts and languages is aptly captured in this Akshar Bharati exhibition, and it will be an enriching encounter for all to experience it.
The exhibition will be open for public from 28th January 2025 till 3rd February 2025, from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. in the Auditorium hall at Jehangir Art Gallery. Entry is free.