In the run up to the upcoming Mountain Echoes Literary Festival, two art exhibitions — ‘Colours of Nature by Green Pigment’ and ‘Tree of life: The Tree of Immortality’ will open today at the Royal Textile Academy (RTA) until August 25.

The exhibition will open from 9:00am till 5:00 in the evening.

Her Majesty the Queen Mother Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck inaugurated the two exhibitions yesterday evening.

Colours of Nature by Green Pigment is a collection of traditional thangka art, artistic rendering of Buddhist gods and goddesses, the four friends, the eight lucky signs, and other traditional Bhutanese art.

The collection of 23 paintings is a work of artist Penjor Dorji, 33, a graduate of Trashiyangtse Institute of Zorig Chusum.

Artist Penjor Dorji said that after graduation, with guidance from his teacher, he continued to research on production and usage of natural dyes.

With financial support from Bhutan Foundation, the collection made use of only natural dyes. “This is the first time Bhutan has researched on natural dyes and are being used. I could only do this with support from my friends and teachers.”

Curated by Malvika Singh, Tree of life: The Tree of Immortality is a work of about seven inmates of the Jaipur Central Jail in Rajasthan, India. There are 10 paintings in the collection.

Malvika Singh said that the paintings were experiments done in the Jaipur Central Jail with the convicts.

She added that instead of rigorous burden given to the convicts the government decided to provide training that would relieve their tension and to encourage the inmates to use their imagination and power of creativity.

The inmates are provided trainings in furniture-making, paintings, and on weaving woollen and cotton rugs. “Some of them said that if acquitted, they want to start school for young boys to learn painting.”

“I also hope to bring Penjor Dorji’s exhibition to Delhi to further strengthen Bhutan-India relationship,” Malvika Singh said.

The three-day literary festival this year will celebrate untouched beauty, unexplored ideas and unstoppable voices from the heart of the Himalayas.

The ninth edition of the festival will also celebrate 50 years of formal diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan.

Phurpa Lhamo

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