Trimaya
An exhibition of paintings by Japani Shyam
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11th – 17th March 2025
Opening ceremony: 11th March– 6:30 PM
Alliance Française de Bhopal, B-75 Shahpura
Japani Shyam was born when her legendary father, the painter Jangarh Singh Shyam, was in Japan. On his return he came to learn about her birth and he gave her the name Japani. Her life started with the story of her father’s travel, so she has an inbuilt tendency to turn anything into a story. She is the one who works under “Jangarh Kalam”, a new style of painting started by her father; yet she expresses her individuality.
“Jangarh Kalam” is the newly born style of painting of 20th century in which Jangarh, who was a Pardhan Gond, used to paint Deities and the nature surrounding him. Now Jangarh Kalam has been adopted by many Gonds living in Mandala and the dense forest around it. It has been widely recognised as “Gond Painting”. Most of the painters from this region follow the way Jangarh used to paint.
Japani doesn’t follow her father: she is a born painter and has no connection with village life. Born and brought up in Bhopal, she looks at the world with an urban eye. Her paintings are a strange mixture of urban and rural sensibility. She paints the environment around her with a touch of aboriginal feelings. You may find flying birds of Mandala region in the city of Bhopal, a galloping Deer between the buildings or a Metro in the Jungle. Her works are intricately woven. She finds her imagination at times flowing in the winds of urban-tribal world, strangely beautiful.
Akhilesh