By Our Correspondent
PURI/BHUBANESWAR:As an integrated project of art, spirituality and heritage, the Sri Jagannath Temple administration is going to organize the artist camp “Neel Shail”. In this three-day camp, artists will give form to various aspects of Sri Jagannath culture through artistic expression on canvas. In this regard, today, a discussion meeting of the artist camp committee was held at the office of the temple under the chairmanship of Padma Shri Dr. Sudarshan Patnaik, former president of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi and renowned sand artist Padma Shri Dr. Sudarshan Patnaik.
In this meeting, renowned artist Padma Shri Vinod Maharana, former secretary of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi and artist Shri Tarakant Parida and officials of the temple administration were present and participated in the discussion. Secretary of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi Dr. Devyani Bhuyan joined the discussion virtually. Selected talented artists from Odisha who have won Padma Awards, National Awards and State Awards will participate in the said camp. The temple administration will arrange for the accommodation and related arrangements for the artists. A coffee table book will also be published with all the paintings prepared in the camp.
It is worth mentioning that earlier in 2014, before the Nabakalab, the Tourism and Culture Department of the state government, Odisha Lalit Kala Academy and the temple administration, a “Neel Kandar” artist camp was organized in Puri in collaboration with the state government’s Tourism and Culture Department, Odisha Lalit Kala Academy and the temple administration. Dr. Arbinda Kumar Padhee, Chief Administrator of the temple, said that the Neel Shail Artist Camp will promote the glory of Lord Jagannath and promote the unique cultural traditions, tourism, heritage and art of Odisha. The Chief Administrator of the temple said that this will be an innovative effort to spread the uniqueness of Puri as a cultural and spiritual city.
