At Dhurandhar exhibition, artist Suhas Bahulkar rues neglect of cultural icons, historical assets

Renowned artist Suhas Bahulkar on Sunday lamented the state of art preservation in the country, observing that cultural icons and historical assets lay neglected.

Speaking at an exhibition celebrating master painter MV Dhurandhar here, Bahulkar blamed it on the ''apathy'' of the government.

Asserting that Dhurandhar was an artist second only to the iconic Raja Ravi Varma, Bahulkar said, ''It is a sorry state of affairs that the family members of Dhurandhar do not have his works. His collection of medals are with others and in some museums and libraries around the globe.'' ''In our country no proper documentation of the works of great artists are available. The root cause of this is the general apathy of the government towards promoting the rich art of the country and artists,'' Bahulkar alleged.

He also cited the cultural heritage of Thane and said it was the duty of the government to protect and preserve it.

''To honour the numerous artists the city has produced, a dedicated art museum that details the lives and works, including replicas, of these local masters must be set up,'' he said.

He praised the Institute for Oriental Study for its efforts in this regard.

The three-day exhibition Bahulkar inaugurated has more than 40 paintings of Dhurandhar, part of a collection focussed on 'Women in India' based on illustrations for Otto Rotherfeld's book.

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