Diwan Manna Explained

Diwan Manna
Birth Place:Bareta, Punjab, India
Nationality:Indian
Alma Mater:Government College of Art, Chandigarh
Known For:Conceptual photography
Awards:National Academy Award (by Lalit Kala Akademi)

Diwan Manna (born 17 June 1958) is an Indian conceptual artist and photographer. He completed his study in graphic art and printmaking from the Government College of Art, Chandigarh in 1982.[1] He exhibited in India, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Poland, and Italy. From 2014 to 2015 he served as the director of Triennale India, organised by Lalit Kala Akademi, National Academy of Art, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India.[2] He served as the chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, State Academy of Art, Department of Culture, Chandigarh Administration. Currently, he is serving as the president of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, State Academy of Art, Ministry of Culture, Government of Punjab, India.[3]

He is a recipient of the National Academy Award by the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.[4] Some of his artworks include Alienation (1980), Violence (1985), Waking the Dead (1996), Shores of the Unknown (2000), After the Turmoil (2003), and Master of Light, and Le Corbusier (2006).

Early life

Manna was born in 1958, in Bareta,[5] a town in Bathinda district (now Mansa district) of Punjab, India. He completed his matriculation from the Government High School, Bareta in 1975. In his early years, he studied fiction and poetry, and was active in sports, played leading role as an actor in theatre and local Ramlila, a popular theatrical folk form in India.[6] [3]

He studied printmaking at the Government College of Art, Chandigarh, India, from 1978 to 1982.[1]

Career

Manna has been practising art since 1980. In 2006, he was artist in residence at Firminy, Saint-Etienne, France, as a part of a cultural exchange program to photograph architecture of Le Corbusier.[7] [8]

On 17 June 2008, he was appointed the chairman of Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, and held the position until 31 July 2015. From 2014 to 2015 he served as the director of Triennale India, organised by Lalit Kala Akademi India's National Academy of Arts, Ministry of Culture, Govt of India.[2] Since 2016, he is the president of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi.[3]

Awards

He is a recipient of the National Academy Award by Lalit Kala Akademi.[9] [10] He first received the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society award in 1995, and the second time in 1996.[11]

Artworks

Manna is one of the first artists from India to practice conceptual photography.[12] His work combines images with objects, moving within a consciously chosen space in order to create a multimedia reality.[13]

He is known for his work revolving around socio-cultural and socio-political concerns,[14] in which he depicts the collapse of human sensitivities in the face of violence, turbulence, hypocrisy, alienation, dehumanization, war and death.[15] According to the art historian Raffael Dedo Gadebusch in The Museum's Journal, Berlin, "...a rather thoughtfull laconic picture of the social reality emerges from Manna's compositions...".[16]

By using existing icons and symbols of tradition and culture as a reference point, he creates visuals, which acquire a deeper meaning in the mind of the viewer, leading to a multitude of interpretations. His interest does not lie in creating pretty visuals but to transport the viewers from the image into their own perceived, imagined and lived experiences by inviting them to respond to these.[17]

Diwan has pushed the boundaries of photography by developing a technique of combining painting, acting, and photography to narrate his personal impressions and experiences of the world in and around him. He creates a three-dimensional immersive environment in which there is a painting in the backdrop, actors whose bodies are painted and props created specifically around the themes he is working on (in the series Violence, Waking the Dead, Shores of the Unknown and After the Turmoil).[18] This temporary installation of various elements is photographed on a transparency film which is further exposed in the darkroom on a normal photographic paper by controlling the rendition of images with the play of filters.

His artworks are not frozen mirror images of banal objects but there is certain remoteness from a routine visual experience. Camera for him is not merely a copying device to document the existing reality around him rather he constructs it in an effort to look beyond the obvious. He is often seen in the images (series - Waking the Dead, Shores of the Unknown and After the Turmoil), outside it, besides it, looking at it and looking from it thereby inhabiting space which is inner (mind), real (studio) and the social at the same time.[19] His conceptual artworks began with the series Alienation in 1980 and continued with the series Violence, Waking the Dead, Shores of the Unknown, After the Turmoil, Master of Light-Le Corbusier[20] over the next three decades.[21] Through his works, Manna tries to express his concerns about the working class and the social inequality in Indian society.[8] Some of his artworks include:

Exhibitions

Individual

His individual exhibitions include:[25]

Group exhibitions

His work has been exhibited in some group exhibitions, including:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A unique combination. 13 September 2006. 20 January 2018. Thehindu.com.
  2. Web site: Peripheries of Globalization : Re-mapping the global contemporary through biennales and triennales. Indiaculture.nic.in. 20 January 2018.
  3. News: 'Functioning of Akademies should be left to professionals': Diwan Manna. 2016-10-03. The Indian Express. 2017-07-06. en-US.
  4. Web site: The nuances of conceptual photography defy mediums. Sunday-guardian.com. 20 January 2018. 13 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171213011651/http://www.sunday-guardian.com/artbeat/the-nuances-of-conceptual-photography-defy-mediums. dead.
  5. Web site: The Sunday Tribune - Spectrum. Tribuneindia.com. 20 January 2018.
  6. Web site: Diwan Manna wins All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society's national awards for his photography. 15 September 1996. India Today. 20 January 2018.
  7. Book: History and Heritage - Government College of Art, Chandigarh (India) . D S Kapoor . 978-93-5279-401-0 . 286 . first.
  8. Book: Contemporary Art North India . 2017 . Pentagon Press . 978-81-8274-949-8 . 109–114.
  9. News: A unique combination. The Hindu. 2017-07-06. en.
  10. Web site: Diwan Manna Paintings by Diwan Manna Diwan Manna Painting - Saffronart.com. Saffronart. 2017-07-06.
  11. Of Tradition and Change. Art India : The Art News Magazine of India. 1998. 3. 2. Art India Publishing Company. Mumbai. 66–68. 80022104.
  12. Web site: Art is the Art of Going Beyond the Obvious . www.betterphography.in . 5 October 2016 . 5 November 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161105082727/http://betterphotography.in/perspectives/art-is-the-art-of-going-beyond-the-obvious/44310/ . dead .
  13. on Art . Take . Symphony of Light . January–June 2018 . 4 . 22 . 36–37, 39 .
  14. Cichocka . Marta Eloy . Cisza Po Burzy . Biuletyn Fotograficzny . December 2006 . 26 . 20,21,22 .
  15. News: Lal . Pradyot . Language of the lens . August 1997 . Asian Age.
  16. Gadebusch . Raffael Dedo . New acquisitions at the Museum for Indian Art . Museum's Journal . April 2002 . I6 . II . 70,71 . 0933-0593.
  17. Pande . Alka . Of Tradition and Change . The Art News Magazine of India . January 1998 . 3 . 2 . 66–68 .
  18. News: Diwan Manna: Artist or a Photographer . India Monitor . 26 November 1995.
  19. Book: Amarbir Singh . Foreword . Pande . Dr Alka . Ages of Separation . October 2006 . Gallery Artroom . New Delhi . 2 .
  20. Web site: Regards croisés sur l'architecture: Le Corbusier vu par ses photographes.
  21. Singh, Amarbir (2006). 'Ages of Separation by Diwan Manna'. New Delhi: Exhibition Catalog, Visual Arts Gallery
  22. Web site: The Tribune - Magazine section - Windows. Tribuneindia.com. 20 January 2018.
  23. Symphony Of Light. Manna. Diwan. Take on India. 4. 1. January–June 2018. 36–39. 921866684.
  24. Web site: Brasilia Chandigarh Le Havre Portraits of cities . 2 June 2016.
  25. Web site: Diwan Manna - Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademy. Lalitkalachandigarh.com. 20 January 2018.
  26. Web site: World art on one platform - Bodhgaya Biennale - The Tetegraph, Calcutta - Diwan Manna. Diwanmanna.com. 20 January 2018.
  27. Web site: Mastering the Image. Chaux-de-fonds.ch. 20 January 2018.
  28. Web site: 'Le Corbusier – Mastering the Image' Exhibition. Swissnexindia.org. 20 January 2018.
  29. Web site: BRASILIA – CHANDIGARH – LE HAVRE : PORTRAITS DE VILLES. 16 September 2007. Muma-lehavre.fr. 20 January 2018.
  30. Web site: Tale of two cities - The Hindu, India - Diwan Manna. Diwanmanna.com. 20 January 2018.

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