CHAT WITH SOUBOYY: HIS EXCELLENCY T.P. SEETHARAM ON ART AT HIS RESIDENCE

April 11, 2015

By: Team SouBoyy, SouBoyy Bureau, Abu Dhabi | Art and LifeStyle

I remember Mayssa inviting me for Art Dubai at Madinat Jumeirah last year which happens under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed, it was incredible… It reminded me of my college days in Mumbai when I started my career in feature journalism alongside my majors in english literature… I used to write for Deccan Chronicle/The Asian Age and Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda was my favourite hang-out place… I would sit at Cafe Samovar for hours sipping cutting chai with vada pav, and talk to various artists for hours… Every artist I have met, I have fallen in love with them and their art, that’s how they impact me in my life…I simply love them, I love art and I love artists too…They simply touch my heart with their strokes… They are great people, great conversationalists and beautiful souls… So, when Mini (Menon) invited me for a display of sketches, scribbles and drawings by K.G. Subramanyan at the ambassador’s residence, I was excited to witness this in Abu Dhabi… Subramanyan has studied in Shantiniketan, near Kolkata (and I love Shantiniketan)…he is 91 and in 2012, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, he is simply legendary… I was welcomed by Mini and Deepa Seetharam, ambassador’s wife who played the perfect host by showing us the paintings. I also met Navin Kishore who is one of the founders of Seagulls Books from Kolkata who enlightened me about the legendary artist… It was a great delight to meet someone from my hometown Kolkata at the ambassador’s home in Abu Dhabi… We sat down and I had a wonderful chat with Mr. T. P. Seetharam (HE Ambassador of India to the UAE) and he told me, “Sou, we are indeed fortunate to have KG Subramanyam’s works adorn our walls, even for a few days…” He introduced me to his daughter Devi (Seetharam) who is a gifted artist herself… She showed me around the house and I was impressed by the paintings on the walls… I like the installations near the pool-side, also her painting of women in abaya…it is just the mirror image of the society here… She also invited me to her upcoming exhibition in Dubai which I look forward to going… We spoke a lot on art as I always appreciate young artists because I feel it is necessary that the youth too should take keen interest in arts and culture… After viewing the drawings we had a wonderful south indian dinner with the ambassador, his wife, Mini, Devi, Navin and other guests. I met ambassador’s mother too and she asked about me to which Devi translated the answer in Malayalam. It was one of the best evenings in AUH, I could talk about art for hours with these wonderful crowd and the ambience was excellent…. I met some interesting people there, Mini introduced me to Krishna who is another partner with Collage Communications who presented the show… Amongst others, I met Laura Koot, the managing editor and art director of The National, Shiva Kumar, the features writer from Friday, Lavesh Jagasia, owner of The Fine Art Advisory, and an art lover named Dipak Sakaria who works in ADNOC… Devi introduced me to Tina Ahmed, who is a bengali artist too who has made UAE her home for many decades and her paintings are displayed in various airports including the busy Heathrow Airport… Happy times passes by soon, so when the clock stroke 10, Devi and her mother shook our hands and sent us on our way with our heart full of gratitude 🙂

What I loved the most about the evening?

Apart from the brilliant drawings, I loved the display of the books. The experience was incredible. I have to be there again soon.

Naveen Kishore, Founder & Managing Trustee – The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, Uma Padmanabhan, daughter of artist K.G. Subramanyan, HE T.P. Seetharam, Ambassador of India to the UAE. Lamp being lit by Rajya Sabha member Dr. T.N. Seema.