Fish vendor Sukumar Mondol, 52, goes about his daily business amid a public display of works by modern artist Hiran Mitra at Kalibabur Bazar in Howrah, West Bengal, on July 11. | Photo credit: Moyuri Som
Hundreds of fish shoppers at the nearly 300-year-old fish market at Kalibabur Bazar in Howrah, West Bengal, witnessed live performances as well as paintings by Kolkata-based postmodern artist Hiran Mitra in the evenings from July 9 to July 11.
As part of the ‘Art in Every One’ public art initiative by Kolkata-based multidisciplinary art group Howrah Jonaki, 31 new paintings by Mr Mitra were put on display at various locations in the fish market for three days between Tuesday and Thursday.
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Biswajit Das, Creative Director of Howrah Jonaki, said, “The idea was born when Mr Mitra expressed his desire to exhibit his paintings outside the gallery and take his art to the public in more local, engaging ways.”
He said the entire market area is visited by around 15,000 people every day. “When they saw the artwork hanging in the fish market, many people, including vendors, thought a film would be shot here. Many were curious, many liked it and many were not interested at all,” Mr Das said.
The fish market at Kalibabur Bazar, which is most crowded in the morning, also provided a platform for theatre, dance, music performances and poetry performances in the evening. | Photo courtesy: Moyuri Som
For Mr Das, the biggest achievement was getting people off their phones and engaging more mindfully with their surroundings, regardless of what they think of the initiative. “The fish vendors thoroughly enjoyed the showcase and felt honoured to be part of such a multi-disciplinary art initiative,” said Mr Das, referring to fish vendor Bulu, who has decided to take up painting as a hobby after being exposed to Mr Mitra’s art.
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The fish market, which is most crowded in the morning, also provided a stage for theatre, dance, musical performances and performance poetry in the evening. On July 10, Howara Jonaki performed their own version of the Athenian tragedy Antigone The event was organised at Kalibabur Bazar fish market in the presence of fish buyers, fish sellers and art lovers.
For three days, 31 new paintings by Kolkata-based modern artist Hiran Mitra were displayed at various locations in the Kalibabur Bazar fish market. | Photo courtesy: Moyuri Som
Sukumar Mondol, 52, who has been selling fish at the Kalibabur market for nearly three decades, said he was very impressed by Mr Mitra’s decision to display his artworks here. “As a fish seller, I feel very honoured that Mr Mitra presented his paintings at this fish market. However, many of my buyers were shocked to see it, they did not understand why these paintings were here,” Mr Mondol said. “Everyone considers the fish market a dirty place, but I believe artists can find inspiration anywhere, even in dirty fish markets,” he said.
According to Arabinda Bandyopadhyay, a ninth-generation descendant of Kali Banerjee, who founded the huge market in Howrah, the fish market is the largest and most famous market in the state. “Our family has always been very deeply attached to art, and we wholeheartedly support such initiatives in this area,” he told The Hindu. “It is better to showcase art in such heavily crowded public places. This way, many more people can experience it.”
