Saroja Art

Born, raised and educated in Kanapur, a rural area that remains largely untouched, in one of India’s poorest states – Andhra Pradesh, Ragu and Sridhar are self-taught artists.  Growing up in a rural area left them to create their own entertainment from the world around them.  Living in this environment led them to express their imagination and creativity through their drawing and painting.  Having no way to make a living from their art in Kanapur, they set off for pastures new.  They now live and work in Goa, where they have their own studio and gallery. 

Originally working in water-colours, they have progressed and are at ease working in both acrylics and oils.  They have learned to use computer technology to refine their work before putting brush to canvas, and unleashing their creative talents.  There is a certain finesse, depth and spirituality to their art that expresses the breath of India and Indian culture.

This year, 2006, will see their first exhibitions outside of India, and it is hoped that Sridhar will be in England throughout this period, to meet and talk to those who visit these events.  Meanwhile, Ragu, with his wife and young daughter, will be looking after the studio and gallery, and (we hope) painting.  The dates in the UK will be announced this summer on our website, local radio and in the local press.

Classical, contemporary and modern, we deal mainly in water-colours, but from this summer (2006) we will have a selection of works in acrylics and oils.  These paintings are only available on our website or from the gallery in Goa.

Mingmar and Fudoma Bhotia

Mingmar and Fudoma were both born in north India, the son and daughter of Tibetan refugee families who fled advancing Chinese troops in 1947.  Now Indian nationals, they support two sons, who are in school in Ladakh, by selling silver jewellery, semi-precious stones and Tibetan artefacts. 

 

The hot summer months, they spend in north India searching out and buying all kinds of jewellery and other unusual items, which they then sell in south India during the winter tourist season.

 

They are a proud people, helping to sustain Tibetan culture within the large Diaspora across the sub-continent.  It is quite common in Tibetan culture for the women to do the retail business in the shop or stall, and the men to do the wholesale work behind the scenes.  There is a real sense of partnership, work-sharing, and equality within the family, that you can only experience by meeting Tibetans, perhaps born out of a shared history of struggle. 

Maya Art

Born and raised in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), Saroj Chowdhury travelled around South India in search of work and inspiration.  In Goa he met Shanti, a young orphaned Mapusa girl, they fell in love, married and now have a young son.

Chowdhury’s experiences and love of life in India are expressed in his paintings.  He works easily with water-colours and acrylics.  Now settled in Goa, Chowdhury can concentrate more fully on his work as an artist.

Art is his meditation and relaxation, art and life both on-going processes, as his life grows, so does his art.

Shanti is the ‘front man’, doing the business in their own gallery.  She certainly has the ‘gift of the gab’ and somehow manages to split her time between selling their work and bringing up their infant son.  Not only do they support themselves, but also help support the rest of Chowdhury’s family in Kolkata, who occasionally visit them in Goa.

Chowdhury’s work will be exhibited for the first time in the UK this summer, as well as on our website.

Dawaram

Dawaram is another son of Tibetan refugee, he has four adult children and is now approaching retirement age, a man of many talents and skills, and with many stories to tell.

In his younger days he served in the Indian Army, was a champion boxer and weightlifter, and he loves his cricket, too.

In the summer months, Dawaram and his wife are based in Delhi, and they too spend their winter months in South India, to escape the cold, damp Delhi smog.

Over the years he has sold antiques, silver jewellery, semi-precious stones and Thangkas (religious paintings).

He now sells an exclusive range of cast metal statues and statuettes of the finest quality.  Cast in brass, copper or bronze, many of the figures are overlaid with silver and gold leaf.  These Hindu gods and Buddhas are of the finest quality, usually only seen in museums and other rare private collections.

 

Kashmiris

Furniture and soft-furnishings, we buy from the Ahangar family who live in the Kashmir Valley.  During the British Raj, their company manufactured rifles and organised hunting trips for British Sahibs.  At Independence, they were asked by the new Indian government to end rifle manufacture, and the family converted their business (in 1947) to the manufacture of high quality furniture and carpets.

 Farooq learned his English and his business acumen whilst selling goods from his shikara (a small flat-bottomed boat) to tourists staying in the house-boats of Dahl and Nagil Lakes in Srinigar.  He also told us that he learnt mush from his travels and working with foreigners.  Now he is passing on his knowledge to the younger members of the family.

By 1989, internal strife disrupted the tourist industry and visitors to Kashmir dried up.  Farooq and his cousin Mansoor left Srinigar in search of new business.  Never having left their homes before, their task was daunting and exhilarating in equal measures.  Nowadays Farooq and his nephew, Irshad, and Mansoor and his son Sajad, run three shops in South India, whilst Farooq’s younger brothers, Ajaz and Fiaz, run an emporium in Srinigar and oversee the manufacturing and shipping of orders to their clients.

Nicer and more honest people you couldn’t hope to meet.  They have taken us into their homes as honoured guests, and provided us with opportunities to visit the factories where their goods are made.