Art Meets Poetry (or Micropoetry!) in ‘The Portrait of a Verse’
Artist Pankaj Rohilkhandvihas teamed up with writer and poet Preeta Chandranto bring out a collection of micropoetry and sketches/paintings inspired by the beauty and power of nature, the various aspects of human emotions, and the numerous facets of life. Compiled into a book, the ‘The Portrait of a Verse’ is being launched on February 24, at Academy of Art and Literature, Arpana Gallery, Siri Fort Institutional Area, New Delhi. The Honourable Chief Guest is Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Finance, Government of India. Noted writer and poet, Padma Shri awardee Shri Keki N. Daruwalla, will be the Guest of Honour. The eventwill be attended by several notable artists and writers.
The book launch will be followed by a painting exhibition showcasing the works of artist and painter Pankaj Rohilkhandvi and several activities over February 24 and 25.
Noted author Keki N Daruwalla, who also wrote the ‘Foreword’ for the book, said that he has always been fascinated by jugalbandi (fusion) of different art forms, be they music, literature or any other forms of art, and that the micropoetry and the paintings complemented each other in the book.
This is the second book by the poet-painter duo. Their first book, ‘The Painted Verse’, was a collection of poetry and painting. When asked what prompted her to move from poetry to micropoetry, Preeta said, “I still write poetry; I haven’t given up doing that. But I had always found micropoetry very fascinating. It is so powerful; just a few lines conveying the deepest of emotions, depicting life. I never thought though that I could myself write something so short and yet so impactful. Then, around two years back, I participated in the Hindustan Times Brunch Haiku Contest and some of my micro poems became winning entries. Then it became almost an addiction; I started penning down my thoughts in short verses almost every day.”
The paintings in the book are also a deviation from the style in the previous book. This is what the artist Pankaj had to say about it, “After realistic paintings, I moved to a style that I call fused-unfused. It is realistic, yet has a touch of the abstract, but the soul of the artwork is lifelike. The paintings in our new book are an extension of the same style, where I have dabbled in black and white versus colour.”
The event, also titled ‘The Portrait of a Verse’is being jointly organised by the publishers, Bibliophile South Asia, and NGO Empowerment, New Delhi.
