Saurabh Mukherjee
Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts has become the centre of a growing political and cultural dispute after a section of its premises was painted saffron again, barely a day after theatre artists and technicians had restored it to white.
The repeated repainting of the heritage institution has drawn competing claims from BJP leaders and members of the city’s theatre community over the use of the space.
The latest episode unfolded after artists painted the old ticket counter near the Academy’s main entrance white on Tuesday under police supervision. The structure had earlier been painted saffron and a portrait of Bharat Mata, shown riding a lion and holding a saffron flag, had been installed beside it.
Within 24 hours, the wall was reportedly painted saffron again and the Bharat Mata portrait was put back in place. Howrah Shibpur BJP MLA Rudranil Ghosh was present when the saffron colour was restored and said there should be no further politicisation of the institution. He also opposed the presence of red flags and sit-in slogans at the cultural venue and criticised veteran Left leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
The controversy had begun in July, when the ticket counter was painted saffron. Theatre personalities objected to what they described as political intervention in a space associated with Kolkata’s cultural heritage. They approached BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, who had indicated that he did not support the repainting.
“We raised our voice and met Samik Bhattacharya (the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party) after some people painted the room saffron around July 6. He did not support the act and said he would get the room repainted,” prominent theatre personality Chandan Sen had told Hindustan Times yesterday.
With no repainting taking place despite the assurance, artists and theatre workers decided to intervene themselves.
“The ticket counter was originally painted terracotta. Now it is white. Let there be no colour. We did not wait for Bhattacharya any longer and decided to do the job on our own,” Sen added.
Several thespians and playwrights, including Sen, Meghnad Bhattacharya, Bibhash Chakraborty, Arun Mukhopadhyay and Debasis Majumdar, had written to Samik Bhattacharya condemning the original act. They said those who painted the structure saffron had claimed to be BJP workers. Bhattacharya had maintained that the BJP did not believe in the politics of changing colours.
Ghosh’s latest intervention has widened the dispute, with Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya hitting back at the BJP MLA and alleging that ruling party figures were acting out of arrogance and without considering the consequences of their actions.
The repeated transformation of the wall has consequently turned what began as a dispute over the colour of a ticket counter into a larger confrontation over political symbolism and cultural spaces in Kolkata.
The Academy of Fine Arts, established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee and Maharaja Prodyot Kumar Tagore, has a long association with Indian art and Bengali theatre. It began in a small room at the Indian Museum on Chowringhee Road before moving to its present location beside St Paul’s Cathedral in the 1950s, with assistance from then chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Its galleries preserve works by artists including Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Nandalal Bose, besides personal artefacts and manuscripts associated with Rabindranath Tagore.
The auditorium has also been an important stage for Bengali theatre and has hosted the state’s annual theatre festival since 1984. Theatre legends such as Sambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt staged landmark productions there, while Mitra and Bijon Bhattacharya founded the iconic Bohurupee theatre group in 1948.
“The ticket counter was opened only for Bohurupee,” Chandan Sen said.
The latest saffron repainting has ensured that the Academy’s walls remain at the heart of an increasingly charged debate over politics, identity and the preservation of Kolkata’s cultural institutions.
The repeated repainting of the heritage institution has drawn competing claims from BJP leaders and members of the city’s theatre community over the use of the space.
The latest episode unfolded after artists painted the old ticket counter near the Academy’s main entrance white on Tuesday under police supervision. The structure had earlier been painted saffron and a portrait of Bharat Mata, shown riding a lion and holding a saffron flag, had been installed beside it.
Within 24 hours, the wall was reportedly painted saffron again and the Bharat Mata portrait was put back in place. Howrah Shibpur BJP MLA Rudranil Ghosh was present when the saffron colour was restored and said there should be no further politicisation of the institution. He also opposed the presence of red flags and sit-in slogans at the cultural venue and criticised veteran Left leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya.
The controversy had begun in July, when the ticket counter was painted saffron. Theatre personalities objected to what they described as political intervention in a space associated with Kolkata’s cultural heritage. They approached BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya, who had indicated that he did not support the repainting.
“We raised our voice and met Samik Bhattacharya (the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party) after some people painted the room saffron around July 6. He did not support the act and said he would get the room repainted,” prominent theatre personality Chandan Sen had told Hindustan Times yesterday.
With no repainting taking place despite the assurance, artists and theatre workers decided to intervene themselves.
“The ticket counter was originally painted terracotta. Now it is white. Let there be no colour. We did not wait for Bhattacharya any longer and decided to do the job on our own,” Sen added.
Several thespians and playwrights, including Sen, Meghnad Bhattacharya, Bibhash Chakraborty, Arun Mukhopadhyay and Debasis Majumdar, had written to Samik Bhattacharya condemning the original act. They said those who painted the structure saffron had claimed to be BJP workers. Bhattacharya had maintained that the BJP did not believe in the politics of changing colours.
Ghosh’s latest intervention has widened the dispute, with Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya hitting back at the BJP MLA and alleging that ruling party figures were acting out of arrogance and without considering the consequences of their actions.
The repeated transformation of the wall has consequently turned what began as a dispute over the colour of a ticket counter into a larger confrontation over political symbolism and cultural spaces in Kolkata.
The Academy of Fine Arts, established in 1933 by Lady Ranu Mukherjee and Maharaja Prodyot Kumar Tagore, has a long association with Indian art and Bengali theatre. It began in a small room at the Indian Museum on Chowringhee Road before moving to its present location beside St Paul’s Cathedral in the 1950s, with assistance from then chief minister Bidhan Chandra Roy and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Its galleries preserve works by artists including Gaganendranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij, Benode Behari Mukherjee and Nandalal Bose, besides personal artefacts and manuscripts associated with Rabindranath Tagore.
The auditorium has also been an important stage for Bengali theatre and has hosted the state’s annual theatre festival since 1984. Theatre legends such as Sambhu Mitra and Utpal Dutt staged landmark productions there, while Mitra and Bijon Bhattacharya founded the iconic Bohurupee theatre group in 1948.
“The ticket counter was opened only for Bohurupee,” Chandan Sen said.
The latest saffron repainting has ensured that the Academy’s walls remain at the heart of an increasingly charged debate over politics, identity and the preservation of Kolkata’s cultural institutions.
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