MUMBAI: Odisha will play host to India's first private sector triennial, Odisha Triennial of International Art (OTIA), which will see India’s national art and the international art scene converge in three major cities of Odisha: Bhubaneshwar, Puri, and Konark.

OTIA, the brainchild of Artists Network for Promoting Indian Culture (ANPIC), is headed by its Managing Trustee, Mr. Sashanka Mohapatra, and was formally launched in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi in May and June respectively of this year.

The OTIA Mumbai Declaration at NGMA, Mumbai, was graced by several known faces, including MP Pinaki Mishra; five times National Award winning eminent actress and MP Shabana Azmi; actors Rohit Roy and Kavitta Verma; designer Nikita Mohanty; veteran artists Lalita Lajmi, Prabhakar Kolte, Nayanaa Kanodia, and Sashanka Mohapatra; and artists Brinda Miller, Padmanabh Bendre, Suhas Bahulkar, Dadiba Pundole, Gautam Patole, Sanjukta Barik, Akhilesh Jaiswal, Maushmi Ganguly, Shabari Smita Guha Nath, Mallikarjun Katke, Kuldeep Karegaonkar, Vipta Kapadia, Vishwa Sahni, and Sonu Gupta. India’s topmost curator and art historian and OTIA’s Curatorial Director, Johny ML; Mumbai-based artist and educationist and Mentor-Director of OTIA, Rajendra Patil ‘PaRa’; and Program Coordinator Kshitish Das were also present.

OTIA will be a 40-day mega art event with over 100 Indian artists of the likes of Jatin Das, Sudhir Patwardhan, Prabhakar Kolte, K.S. Radhakrishnan, Ravinder Reddy, Jogen Chowdhury, and Laxman Gowd.

MP Pinaki Mishra said, ‘OTIA is a noble venture. It flew out of an idea of very bright and talented youngsters from Raghurajpur that has extraordinary talent per square inch. Every home is home to art and artisans. I would like to invite you back this winter and spend a couple of days to understand how much talent is prevalent and nurtured and is left undiscovered. That is the real motive of OTIA and the Triennial, and anything we can do to make it a success. It is a challenging and daunting task but young people bring strong energies and exceptionally gifted mentors. Well begun is half done and I am privileged to part of it.’

Shabana Azmi added, ‘My father had inculcated art in me since I was a child. I have been watching plays, going to galleries, since my childhood. It has created a climate of sensitivity sublimely in me. In today’s times, where the entire world is driven by the market, we have to make a special attempt to say that we nurture art that doesn’t apply to market but says something much more important.’

‘We need to recognise that art has flourished over the years as it has had patronage. Mr Pinaki Mishra is here, and I think it is very important that if in parliament we can get our parliamentarians to agree what an important part art has in shaping the personality of individuals, in creating the respect for diversity for inclusion for multilingual, multicultural society. It is also important that organisations and government should come together to create a climate in which change can possibly occur. I would congratulate it. I understand how it is important to be mentored by those in the profession and congratulations to all of you.’

Sashanka Mohapatra stated that it is an international platform where international artists could exhibit along with the national artists of India, especially those from the Odisha state.

Johny ML emphasized that while most international events are generally high-browistic, this triennial will see local aesthetics stand shoulder to shoulder with international art, thus integrating art, music, dance, theatre, film, craft, and literature and being the first of its kind.

Here is looking forward to more such initiatives.