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Maldives exhibition

Maldives exhibition

November 13, 2021

Prakash Bal Joshi

When I got a call asking me whether I will be interested in participating in an international art exhibition scheduled in Male, the main island of Maldives, there was no question of rejecting the offer. More so, when the caller was my artist friend Mintu Deka.

It turned out to be very significant exhibition as works by artists from different countries including USA, Sweden, Canada, Egypt, Bangladesh, Netherland Russia were displayed prominently.

This was first offline international opportunity for me after one and half years of isolation due to pandemic and resultant restrictions on travelling. Everybody knows how beautiful culture of Maldives island is. As the WHO had declared these islands as safe place, lot of home strapped people had already headed towards Maldives.

Participation in an international art exhibition without support of any art gallery, is always fraught with many unseen hurdles. It is not easy to carry your paintings along with you or even ship them before the exhibition, as many galleries and organizers of art event do not take responsibility of clearing your paintings from customs, they want them to be delivered at their gate. So, you need to follow many protocols, and make sure your work reaches safely intime for exhibition. You keep on learning new things, as you keep on making new mistakes.

This time, covid protocol was an added hurdle. I had to download vaccine certificate after, my passport number was added to it. Despite taking all the precautions and downloading and printing all the required documents, when I reached the airport and reported to the Indigo counter, they wanted to know whether I had filled up Maldives government’s online arrival form. I had difficult time, and but for the cooperative staff at the counter who helped me to fill up the form, I would have missed the flight.

One of the participating artists missed his flight at Kolkata airport as he could not fill up the form in time due to slow network.

We arrived at a small seaside hotel dumped our luggage and straightway headed for the National Art Gallery, Male which was not very far off. It was situated in a lovely stone building with a nice office and a large display area. It is one of the good galleries I have visited so far, in good ambience, off-white walls, excellent height so that one can display large size works, excellent lighting and sound system.

Next day we carried out work for display, kept it near the wall, the friendly staff and the gallery director Hussein took upon themselves the responsibility of maintaining same height of all displayed work while assuring a natural balance of colours across the display. Once free of our work, we could stroll around the promenade, strictly prohibiting so no booze was available.

In the evening it was simple ceremony, once the display was over small rows of chairs were kept for audience, following covid protocol. Cultural minister Thariq expressed satisfaction that such an international exhibition could be organized in Maldives with the help of SMD Foundation. The entire exercise was supported by Indian Cultural Centre, Indian High Commission, Maldives Artists Community and National Art Gallery of Maldives. Art Director Hussain hoped that such kind of international interaction and display of works will enrich local artists.

I am obsessed with blue colours and couple of my paintings displayed also explored blue colours matching hues of clear skies and crystal-clear blue waters of Maldives. I returned with great satisfaction as one of my works was included into the permanent collection of the Maldives National Art Gallery.