Sand-Cast Cement Mural, Kala Bhavan, 1988

K.G. Subramanyan's sand-cast cement mural on the facade of a studio building at the campus of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan.

The mural comprises of reliefs and free-standing sculptures in sand-cast cement and welded metal, and was completed in December 1988 with technical assistance from Gyarsilal Varma and the help from Nandadulal Mukherjee, Shaukat-ul-Zaman, Ravinder, Sanjay, and other Kala Bhavan students.

The facade relief was made in Jaipuri technique and depicts three mythological goddesses — Durga, Manasa, and Kamala Kamini. The drawing was done by K.G. Subramanyan in 1986 just before he was invited to Oxford. Gyarsilal Varma and students executed the work. K.G. Subramanyan completed the rest of this mural with their help when he returned in 1988.

The relief, measuring 289cm x 595cm, was cast in cement in a sand bed which had plenty of brick dust. This gave the surface a prominent texture and hue of sand and brick dust. 

The demarcated area in front of the relief depicts a pond, measuring 900cm x 595cm, with animals that were also made in cement. K.G. Subramanyan recalls that he had thought of having actual water there but changed his mind as he realised that a pond would be difficult to maintain.

Context

This sand-cast cement mural was K.G. Subramanyan's first out of the three large-scale murals that he had worked on at the campus of Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, between 1988 and 2012.

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Publication/Creation date

1988

Creation place

India

Medium

Sand-cast cement

Content type

artwork documentation

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Sand-Cast Cement Mural, Kala Bhavan, 1988