Mumbai: The rich legacy of nationalism, cultural identity and art education reflected in the visual traditions of Sir J.J. School of Art must be preserved for future generations, Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil said on Wednesday.
Hostel plan announced
Patil announced that a hostel with a capacity of 1,000 students — 500 girls and 500 boys — would be opened soon to provide accommodation to students of the institution.
Patil visited a special exhibition titled “Swaraj: Seen and Painted Freedom”, organised at the newly conserved historic Dean’s Bungalow on the Sir J.J. School of Art campus. He reviewed the artworks and praised the institution’s contribution to India’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Exhibition showcases history
The exhibition features rare paintings created by students of the institution between 1940 and 1960 as part of their academic training. The artworks provide a visual account of several aspects of India’s freedom movement, the Swadeshi movement, social transformation and nation-building in the post-Independence period.
Themes such as Mahatma Gandhi, the spinning wheel, Satyagraha, Bharat Mata, rural life and Independence Day were portrayed by students through a sensitive visual language that reflected the nationalist sentiment of the period.
Works of noted artists displayed
The exhibition also features works created during their student years by artists who later earned recognition in modern Indian art, including Vasudeo Gaitonde, Laxman Pai, Jatin Das and Dilip Ranade. Works by several talented but lesser-known students have also been included in the collection.
Patil said the exhibition was more than a display of artworks, describing it as a living visual archive of India’s freedom struggle, cultural consciousness and the history of art education. The collection also offers an insight into the artistic outlook of students of that era as well as the social and national sentiments prevalent at the time.
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Legacy preservation emphasised
He appealed to art lovers, researchers, students and citizens to visit the exhibition and experience the institution’s historic artistic heritage.
The minister said efforts would continue to preserve and showcase the valuable artistic legacy of Sir J.J. School of Art for coming generations.
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