Tera Mera Aankh Tere Mere Aankhey

Last few months, I have posted Tera Mera Aankh/ ত োমোর আমোর ত োখে তেেো /
stories. It is a combination of a few words, used as a slang for two/ three different meanings. Like, both of our eyes together, building the narratives. The set of images I choose from my archives, actively or mutedly they have potential move in art practice. Due to without captions and details, I have received questions and ping that, why there are no details. The reason is clear, and my caption has an explanation before everything starts. It is a living narration instead of a institutionalize record! It is not my interest to present the past published notes on the works and keep the audience silence to think more about visual language.

Professor Kanchan Chakraborty a faded name in Santiniketan Kala Bhavan, Art history dept. He taught art history at Kala Bhavan, a bright student of Professor Herbert Read. Dr Chakraborty inspired and stirred up my curiosity and search to Art history. At the same time, I was a student at Kala Bhavan. He was the editor of Chitra Katha, a book written by Binod Bihari Mukhopadhya. He affectionately named Kala Kanchan for Dr Chakraborty. He also edited a significant number of letters of Binod Bihari Mukhopadhya. Kanchan Da, who showed me not just to trust else eyes and historian’s notes! But push me to engage an exercise to look at any form of art and constructing an unfamiliar language. A new zigzag of words is more exciting to start a fresh look. He is always interested in animating the history instead of carrying the baggage of the past.

To extend this context, I must mention the author Pramathanath Bishi and Sayed Mujtaba Ali. The great scholar and knowledge with many hands.
Professor Bishi has authored many books with all sorts of bibliography, footnotes, endnotes, and all significant references. But One book he mentioned in his introduction that he does not wants any endnotes and footnotes. Because he wants to revisit his memories through his research journeys, he wrote, Purano Sei Diner Kotha.

Professor Ali writes Deshe Bideshey, and it is a rare important book and living history, as one can walk still today. Discussion on Professor Ali will take a large text.

Tera Mera Aankh is a practice to animate the frozen past. It is an effort to looking at the images, build your narratives, and continue the discussions. I do not want to force with the historically documented texts and captions, sources. For any future references, I have what they are, and from I am digging up. But for me, it is important to animate the archives, not just use the archives or remain as isolated reference materials. Theorizing archives and building text is one way but looking at visual archives can be more unprecedented surprises. It is also the foundation of my art practice for more than twenty years. So, keep looking and find more ways to go beyond the images. Not just take archives as a trendy term in so-called ‘Contemporary ART’ and mere tool to create ‘ART’ in present days.

Professor Kanchan Chakraborty left Santiniketan after his retirement around 1990-91. He has died many years back. He never had his due credit not even during Binod Bihari Centenary publication. It is hardly anything available on the web about him. But my series of post as Tera Mera Aankh is a silent dialogue Prof Chakraborty. The matt black face with thick frame power glass vision of Kanchan Chakraborty will remain alive forever.

Samit Das / Text copyright@samitdas.com

New Delhi

First Publish on Facebook 5th July 2020