43rd Monsoon Show at Jehangir!

Monsoon in Mumbai is often associated with news about potholes, flooding, fallen trees, traffic jams and delayed trains. However, Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai brings a happy news to Mumbaikars every monsoon since 1980. Keeping this tradition alive, the gallery inaugurated their 43rd ‘Monsoon Art Exhibition’ on 1st July 2023. 80 young student artists from 20 art colleges and art institutions across Maharashtra have participated, making this exhibition a grand festival of artistic expression.

In an exclusive conversation with Chinha Art News, Mrs K G Menon, Secretary of Jehangir Art Gallery shared some early memories of this annual event. The ‘Monsoon Art Exhibition’ popularly known as the ‘Monsoon Show’ was conceptualized during the tenure of the then Secretary of Jehangir Art Gallery, Mr Ram Chatterjee. The initial concept was to present a confluence of works of the old masters and senior, well-established artists under an umbrella event which art lovers can enjoy during the monsoon time, when regular exhibitions of younger artists are not scheduled. 

The first Monsoon Art Exhibition was held in 1980 which showcased works of senior artists including K K Hebbar, N S Bendre, M F Husain and K H Ara among others. With this inaugural show, the idea took off, and gained popularity amongst art lovers. Works of the other senior artists including Prabhakar Barwe were presented in the subsequent years. 

Soon, the ‘Monsoon show’ concept became well accepted. That was the time when the original concept was expanded to include works of student artists. The purpose was to support talented art students from art colleges and institutions in Maharashtra to exhibit their work without any exhibition cost, while providing them the opportunity and exposure required to launch their professional career. 

Two artists and art educationists – Prof Prabhakar Kolte and Prof Kashinath Salve, from the prestigious J J School of Art took initiative in expanding the scope of the Monsoon Show to make it predominantly a students’ art exhibition, beginning with student participants from J J School of Art. Senior artists K K Hebbar and N S Bendre came forward and instituted awards to encourage the student artists in the Monsoon Show, making it an attractive and prestigious preposition for young talent to participate. 

Once this model was stabilized, it was further expanded to include all major art colleges and art institutions across Maharashtra state. Jehangir Art Gallery not only offers the exhibition space free of cost to the student participants, but also supports the students by way of inviting art collectors to facilitate sales. Over the years, even the number of awards has risen to a whopping 12, with 3 new awards instituted this year. The awards are instituted by senior artists or their relatives, art foundations, art galleries, art magazines, art material manufacturers and individuals (See captioned photos). All awards have monetary sums given in the form of cheques. Every participant is awarded a certificate of participation.

The rising popularity of the Monsoon show led to demand for participation by various art colleges and art institutions across Maharashtra. Selection of the colleges for participation is made by the Dean of J J School of Art. To ensure a fair and inclusive representation of students from various art colleges and institutions in the entire process of the monsoon show, a Bookings Subcommittee is formed which has representatives from various art colleges and institutions. Every participating institution is asked to select their best students for participation from the final year of graduate and post graduate programs. 

Jehangir Art Gallery invites these selected students for submissions of their entry. The submitted artwork images are subjected to a selection process through a panel of judges of the Bookings committee. The entries selected by them are then presented in physical form at the Gallery. Once the exhibition is arranged in the gallery, representatives of all the 13 instituted awards visit the gallery and select one entry for their respective award. Thus, the entire process is well structured to ensure fairness and transparency. 

This year, the following 20 art colleges and institutions participated in the 43rd Monsoon Show (Listed alphabetically). 

Abhinav Kala Mahavidyalaya, Pune

Central India School of Fine Art, Nagpur

Chitrakala Mahavidyalay, Nashik

Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University, Aurangabad

Government College of Art and Design, Nagpur

J K Academy of Art and Design, Mumbai

Kala Vidya Sankul Polytechnic, Mumbai

Kalavishwa Vidyalaya, Sangli

MIT School of Fine Arts and Applied Arts, Pune

Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts and Craft, Mumbai 

Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur

Sahyadri School of Art, Sawarde

Sanjoy Kurhe College Modern Art, Amaravati

Shree Dnyanesh Chitrakala Mahavidyalay, Navargaon

Sir J J School of Art, Mumbai

SNDT College of Arts, Mumbai

SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai

Thane School of Art

Vasai Vikasini College of Visual Art, Vasai

Yashwant Kala Mahavidyalaya, Aurangabad

Mrs Menon further added that over the years, there have been numerous student artists who participated in the monsoon show, who later became well known artists. Even though it is difficult to enlist all of them, a few names can be listed, which represent many generations spread over the past four decades. Sudarshan Shetty (Internationally acclaimed multidisciplinary artist), Atul Dodiya (Internationally acclaimed artist), Jitish Kallat (Multi-media artist and curator), Satish Naik (Co-Founder & Chief Editor of Chinha Art News), Riyas Komu (Multimedia artist and curator), Anand Panchal (Abstract and Figurative painter) are some of the senior artists, followed by the post year 2000 graduate generation of the likes of Pisurwo Jitendra Suralkar, Rahul Kokate, Siddharth Shingade  and Ganesh Dattatray Pokharkar who have made a mark in the art world.

Artist Pisurwo Jitendra Suralkar spoke with Chinha team wherein he recalled his unforgettable memories of participation in the Monsoon Show in year 2000. Cut to year 2023, Pisurwo has constituted an award in the 43rd Monsoon show, in the loving memory of his two grandmothers Dhurpatabai and Bhagartabai and their village named Kalkheda located in Jamner Taluka in the Jalgaon district of Maharashtra state.

Artist Ganesh Dattatray Pokharkar spoke with Chinha team about how his participation in the 2009-10 Monsoon show helped him. Ganesh credits those 7 days spent at Jehangir Art Gallery for teaching him many important life skills practically, which every young artist must learn. It includes how to present your work, how to communicate with the visitors, how to identify the potential buyer, and how to approach them professionally. He claims that even though it is an exhibition, Monsoon show serves as a skilling program, that no art education curriculum teaches in the classroom. 

Chinha team also interacted with some of student participants of the 43rd Monsoon Show to sense their vibe. These students are enthusiastic and professional in their approach. The works of Ms Anamika Barange and Ms Shweta Urane, both students of Sir J J School of Art are particularly interesting for their novel approach to artistic expression (See captioned photos). An almost equal representation of both genders in participants and award winners is very promising. This also shows that the art world is ready to take a new flight in the post covid era. Moreover, it is heartening to note that 14 paintings from the present show have already been sold to international buyers. 

The prize distribution is scheduled on Friday, 7th July, at 3:30 pm in a formal function at the Jehangir Art Gallery. It will be done at the hands of two well-known senior artists – Sculptor Vikrant Manjrekar and Artist Surendra Jagtap, presently Principal of J K Academy of Art & Design, and Treasurer of the Bombay Art Society, who himself was once a student participant in the Monsoon Show!

The award-winning entries in the exhibition are presented below.

N S Bendre Foundation award (Rs 25000/-) and K K Hebbar Art Foundation award (Rs 25000/-) – Ms Neha Dewangan for ‘Soul Combustion’ (72”X48”)

K K Hebbar Art Foundation award (Rs 25000/-) – Rohit Karekar for ‘Perception and Memory’

M F Husain award (Rs 25000/-) – Ms Vaidehi Mahadev Darekar for ‘Untitled II’

Art Musings award (Rs 10000/-) – Umesh Dominic Malkari for ‘Struggling Nature’

Sharvari Luth award (Rs 25000/-) – Saurabh Dashrath Shinde for ‘Astrologer’

Studio 3 award (Rs 15000/-) – Yogesh Powale for ‘Blushing Flowers in Vase’

Camel award (Rs 25000/-) – Kusumavati Rashekar Hira for ‘Whispers of Youth’

Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation award (Rs 10000/-) – Manish Meghnath Shinde for ‘Untitled’

Dhurpatabai Bhagartabai Kalkheda award (Rs 10000/-) – Akanksha Dhanraj Patil for ‘Saudade -8’

Kismat Art Gallery award (Rs 10000/-) – Ms Juhi Vilas Deshmukh for ‘Childhood Memory’

Michael J Ryan award (Rs 10000/-) – Ms Advait Kishor Nadavdekar for ‘Tan’

Shiavax Dhunjibhoy Chavda award (Rs 25000/-) – Aniket Vijay Gujare for ‘Ajoba’

Some more interesting works are presented here.

Ms Anamika Barange ‘Up and Down’ – Sir J J School of Art

Ms Anamika Barange  ‘I’ – Sir J J School of Art

Ms Shweta Urane ‘Stuck in the crowd’ – Sir J J School of Art

Ms Shweta Urane ‘Alive but dead’ – Sir J J School of Art

We urge every art lover to visit the 43rd Monsoon Show to encourage these young artists, who look forward to a fulfilling professional career. The show is open till 10th July from 11 am to 7 pm at Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.

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Vineel Bhurke