Theatre artists repaint Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts white from saffron

Theatre artists in Kolkata recently repainted the old ticket counter at the Academy of Fine Arts, which had been painted saffron and adorned with a portrait of Bharat Mata by members of a Hindutva group. This occurred about a month after the saffron painting and portrait installation. Established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee and Maharaja Prodyot Kumar Tagore, the Academy aimed to promote Indian art.

The ticket counter is located beside the main entrance. Actor and theatre personality Chandan Sen expressed his displeasure, voicing concerns after the saffron painting around July 6 and meeting with Samik Bhattacharya, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Bhattacharya denied involvement and vowed to repaint the counter.

The ticket counter, originally terracotta, has now been returned to its original white state. Sen and other artists, including Meghnad Bhattacharya, Bibhash Chakraborty, Arun Mukhopadhyay, and Debasis Majumdar, had written to Bhattacharya condemning the act. The Hindutva group claimed to be BJP workers, but Bhattacharya clarified that the BJP does not endorse color-changing politics.

The Academy, originally housed in a modest room at the Indian Museum, relocated to its current site beside St Paul’s Cathedral in the 1950s with support from then Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The institution houses a special gallery featuring artifacts and manuscripts of Rabindranath Tagore, as well as works by renowned artists such as Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij, Benode Behari Mukherjee, and Nandalal Bose.

The auditorium, hosting the state's annual theatre festival since 1984, has witnessed performances by luminaries like Sambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt, and was the birthplace of the iconic theatre group Bohurupee, founded by Sambhu Mitra and Bijon Bhattacharya in 1948.