The Purushottam Public Trust About
ABOUT US
Art guides us to evolve; sometimes with gentle nudges and sometimes with startling bolts of creative lightening. The accessibility of art is a gauge of freedom in a society, and the appreciation of it exalts us. Art is not only a mirror to society but also a crystal ball. It is a space that society yields itself to celebrate achievements, comment on lacunae, explore new thought boundaries and push the envelope of legacy practices. Art as a discipline helps exercise and develop higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, & "problem-finding." In a nutshell, art is vital for society to flourish.
But for art to flourish it is obvious that artists must flourish. Unfortunately the path to success for an artist is largely rocky and unpaved; filled with obstacles and challenges. While many artists succeed, plenty fail. The struggle during the initial days can be excruciating.
We at Purushottam Public Trust, hope to play a small role by helping talented budding artists, especially printmakers.
Under the trusteeship of Paresh Saraiya, Rahul Subberwal and Rini Dhumal, the Purushottam Public Trust has been instituted to carry forward the legacy of P.D. Dhumal. Its key nurtures and helps flourish the disciples of printmaking and graphic arts.
It aims to deploy diverse mechanisms as seminars, workshops, camps, scholarships and training centres to achieve the dual objective of enhancing the stature and appreciation of printmaking and printmakers plus providing Indian printmakers the avenues to interact and assimilate with the global art scene.
Instituted on the 14th of January 2013, the Purushottam Public Trust was born of a collective vision seeking to fuel and facilitate the art and appreciation of printmaking and printmakers.
Stirred and sparked by the retirement of Shri P. D. Dhumal from the faculty of the Graphic Arts Department at M. S. University, Vadodara, sixty nine ex- students came together to honor their beloved teacher through a commemorative exhibition of graphic works. Held on the 14th of May, 2012, the exhibition laid the foundation to the Trust through its core intention to honor and celebrate a lifetime of artistic efforts, endeavours and achievements, as well as forward the legacy of Shri. P.D. Dhumal.
The works exhibited have since been collated into a portfolio, aptly titled 'Anant'- an endless celebration of Graphic Art; proceeds from its sale fund the activities and initiatives of the Purushottam Public Trust.
The Trust has since evolved to incorporate a core team of trustees and advisors who channel and realise its objectives and ideals through a series of events, publications and initiatives. Pooling the visionary and creative talents of artists, the Trust seeks to educate, inform and inspire current and future generations. To this effect, the Purushottam Merit Award was instituted in 2014, while organizing exhibitions and seminars in the near and distant future.
