The art scene in Kolkata is particularly exciting this winter. An exhibition of the works of the famous group of artists that came together under the banner of the Society of Contemporary Artists is on at the Aakriti Art Gallery in Kolkata. Aakriti has put up a really spectacular show to celebrate the golden jubilee of this society. Consisting of some of the famous names in the world of art, the members of this society can be credited with giving a new face to Indian art. While some have passed on, luminaries such as Ganesh Haloi, Amitabha Banerjee and Sunil Das continue to make waves in today’s art world, both in India and abroad.

The Society of Contemporary Artists has had its ups and downs, however, there were some, including Bikash Bhattacharjee and Shyamal Dutta Ray, who remained members till their last days. Others such as Sarbari Roy Choudhury, Meera Mukherjee, Prakash Karmakar and Somnath Hore, decided to part ways somewhere along the way. However, the exhibition at Aakriti, titled, Not so Long Ago, appears to have managed to bring together works of members, past and present, including artists whose works are not easily seen in galleries.

Open till December 31, the exhibition offers a real treat for art lovers, with works by Nikhil Biswas in his traditional black and white colours, Ganesh Pyne’s sketches, Lalu Prasad Shaw’s early etchings and many others.

There is another interesting exhibition on at the Ahuja Museum of Arts, titled Indian Master 1. The title suggests that there is more to come in the Indian Master series. The exhibition showcases the works of many well-known artists. Beginning with senior artists such as M F Husain, Satish Gujral, S H Raza, and A Ramachandran, the works also include T Vaikuntam, Yusuf Arakal, Manu Parekh, Arpana Caur, Gogi Saroj Pal, Chintan Upadhyay and others. Going by the name of the artists, art lovers will be able to visualise the wide variety on offer and realise that despite the title of the show, new age artists haven’t been left out. We can look forward to what the gallery will include in their next show in the series, whenever they decide to showcase Indian Master 2.

The Victoria Memorial and V&A Museum, London, bring their celebrated exhibition, Indian Life and Landscape, which has already been on show in Delhi. But with the colonial culture of Kolkata still intact in many ways, this show being held at the iconic Victoria Memorial offers a special mood that is considerably enhanced by its splendid surroundings. The exhibition includes rare paintings and etchings by British artists who visited India in the 18th and 19th centuries, and will be on till January 31. We end with a roundup of other interesting exhibitions in Kolkata. Chitrakoot Gallery offers an interesting exhibition of paintings on the theme of Goddess Kali. There is an exhibition on at Idiyas Gallery, titled Portraits of Perception, which brings a selection of abstract, impressionistic and realistic works by a group of artists that include Ramananda Bandopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Aditya Basak and others.

And finally, the Academy of Fine Arts presents its 74th annual exhibition, which will be on till January 3, 2009. All in all, a real feast of art is in store for those living in or visiting Kolkata over Christmas and New Year.

The writer is a painter and has won

numerous advertising design awards