 Women
and their immense strength form the crux of her
expressions. As the brush caresses the canvas, the
fragile yet robust nature of woman as a mother,
breadwinner of a guiding force emerges. The artist
is none but, Chandana Khan, Secretary, Youth
Advancement, in the Department of Tourism and
Culture, who presented her collection
of paintings at the Ramada Manohar Hotel in
Begumpet recently. The exhibition organised by the
Hyderabad Art Society was inaugurated by
veteran artist K. Rajaiah.
 Chandana
has been formally trained by renowned art masters
in Calcutta for seven years. All the oil
paintings that were on display depicted women as
its basic theme. Chandana's main focus seemed to
be women defying, or accepting, their mythical and
traditional roles. Although there are women in prehistoric
art, farmers, mothers, and so on. But the artist
has stuck to the traditional mode of figurative
depictions. "Men without women are nothing",
the Tourism Secretary with a penchant for the
palette, Chandana Khan, insists. Subjects like the
fierce Kali vanquishing Mahishasura, a
group of women working in the fields under the scorching
sun, women nurturing their children with all the
love, women dancing on a moon-lit night while
their menfolk play various musical instruments were
seen in her works. No wonder, there were women everywhere,
all powerful, in her paintings.
 There
were 20 exclusive paintings etched out by Chandana
Khan during the last few years. "These are
all drawn from my own experience, meeting women
from different strata of society. But, it is their
inner strength and resilience against the odds that
binds them together," she explains. "A
painting neither should be abstract nor photographic.
It should tell a story and more importantly should
be understood by all," she opines.
 The
bureaucrat-painter affirms that a permanent State
owned art gallery is a must for the city. "Paris
is renowned for its art galleries and
museums. Likewise, several other European countries.
At a time when painting as an art is slowly emerging
in Hyderabad, we can use it extensively to promote
tourism," she feels. Also on the agenda
is an artistes village in the city. "In
the conceptual stage, the village away from the
humdrum of the city will be a place of its own,"
she explains. "A series of painting exhibitions
all over the State will also help raise money for
many a worthy cause," she added. |
2:06:36 PM 
