Renowned Mumbai Artist & Author Prakash Bal Joshi Invited As Guest of Honour at 7th International Festival of Fine Arts in Morocco

The International Festival of Fine Arts (FIAP 2025) in Morocco is back with its seventh edition and renowned artist Prakash Bal Joshi has been invited as a guest of honour.

The festival will be held from December 9 to 12, 2025, and Cadi Ayyad University is one of the organisers. This year, the theme is based on the concept of 'giving new stories and immortal life to works of art born from waste', also known as upcycled art.

The invite is a huge honour for Mumbai-based artist Prakash Bal Joshi, who has showcased his abstract paintings on a global stage for decades now. He has a studio in Mulund, Mumbai, as well as in Pune. Prakash Bal Joshi's artworks — mostly done in oil paint, acrylic and sometimes in water colour — are not only beautiful, but are also an effective medium for environmental awareness.

Earlier, Prakash Bal Joshi used to paint what he sees, like mountains, rivers, trees and homes of people, but over the years he has been expressing himself with abstract art. "There was a time when I used to do a lot of realistic work, but slowly, over the years, without me realising, the colours from my palette disappeared. Forms also disappeared. Suddenly there were no boundaries and I was only playing with colours, depending on my mood or feelings."

Nature, especially rivers, is one of his main inspirations, and he is fascinated by the mythical River Saraswathi, which disappeared from Earth around 1000 years ago. According to Prakash Bal Joshi, the river still survives in Indian culture, novels and literature. For his fans and people who have seen his work, his paintings feel like visual poems.

For Prakash Bal Joshi, being invited to the prestigious festival is a huge honour, as he will be representing India on such a huge global platform. "I am very happy because this is a recognition of my art. For the last one-and-a-half decade, I have been travelling all over the world and visiting universities and also interacting with the students and art faculties there. It helps me understand what are the developments taking place in the art world, and including that into my own work."

The artist, who has earned fame, both in India and abroad for his talent, has a fan base all over the world. He personally likes oil paint very much, and has captured shifting cities, disappearing rivers, silent emotions and spiritual echoes on his canvas.

This is the first time that Prakash Bal Joshi will be attending the International Festival of Fine Arts and he particularly likes 2025's theme. "The theme of giving new life to work from decaying waste material is very exciting. There are over a lakh students getting art education at the Cadi Ayyad University, and they will also be participating in the festival," he shares.

At the festival, Prakash Bal Joshi will also do a live demo painting. "Oil painting takes a long time and the drying period is usually 15-20 days. I use layers and layers of paint. In my normal process, it takes quite a long time because I do a layer, wait for it to dry, and then paint another layer. I will mostly be working with acrylic colours at the festival, as they are more convenient and dry faster," he reveals.