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Manisha Jha's first exhibition of Madhubani paintings at the India International Centre art gallery is a bold and colourful effort. An urban architect and interior designer practicing in Delhi, Baroda and Bombay, She retains a deep connection with Bihar's famous folk art. At a first glance, her paintings resonate similar forms and colours that are used by her rural sisters. But on a closer look, the difference shows. Instead of using natural and vegetable dyes, she uses poster colours. The paper is handmade all right but of a greater thickness than that used by the rural artists. She has experimented with different materials, using adhesive for texture or painting with acrylic on glass and wood.

 ART ROOT: Manisha Jha's
      Mordern Madhubani

Just 28, Manisha has been painting for the past 18 years. Her's is a personal interaction with the figures in the

paintings and she is well versed in mythology and folklore. While her grandmother and mother painted too, Manisha is the first of the three generations to hold an exhibition. However, her grandmother had won a state award for her painting and reed handiwork.

It is interesting that with her training in precision drawings for architecture, she succeeds in retaining the innocent and childlike spontaneity of the folk form which defies the proportionate. Manisha's second exhibition is to be held at the Lalit Kala Akademi and the third at Goa, as part of the Liberation Day celebrations.


                                       (Contributed by Shumita Didi Sandhu and Nirupama Dutt)