Painting Meets Poetry at The 41st International Kolkata Book Fair, 2017

Eminent authors, poets, and other creative personalities from the country grace the Inauguration ceremony of the International Kolkata Book Fair.

The 41^st International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF), was inaugurated by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

This year’s book fair, with a special focus on Costa Rica, is being held at Milan Mela, Kolkata, from 25 January, 2017 to 05 February, 2017.

The event is organised by the Publishers and Booksellers Guild and Costa Rican writer Roxana, who initiated the fair by hitting the ceremonial hammer 41 times, said the fair gave wonderful ways of interaction between the two countries.

With an average record footfall of 2.5 million year on year, it is the largest attended book fair in the world.

Eminent authors, poets, and other creative personalities from the country grace the Inauguration ceremony of the International Kolkata Book Fair.

Bareilly-born, Delhi-based artist and painter Pankaj Kumar Saxena and Kerala-born, Delhi-based writer and poet PreetaChandran, were invited to this prestigious festival this year, to showcase their book, ‘The Painted Verse’, and talk about fusion of art and poetry. In their session on 01 February, 2017 at ‘The Media Corner’, they spoke about ‘Fusion’, its evolution and history, and what they are doing in this field. They also showcased their first work in this field, ‘The Painted Verse’, a unique amalgamation of poetry and painting, which has found a place in the India Book of Records.

The event was inaugurated by Shri Jayanta Bagchi from the organizing committee of the KBF. Eminent personalities like Prof. Soma Banerjee (Head – Department of English and Director – Centre for Latin American Studies, RabindraBharati University),Shri Pranab Ghosh (Journalist and blogger) graced the event. Prof. Ratan Bhattacharjee spoke about the work of the author and the artist and shared insights on the evolution of fusion. Shri Piyush Bagchi (Secretary – Neelanjana SilpaSahitya Sanskriti) rendered a Bangla translation of one of Preeta’s poems.

The event was unique in its format of fusion of two art forms and generated a lot of interactive discussions between authors, academia, and media.