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`BBB Art' goes to Goa
THIS MAN from Bangalore is known all over for his "BBB Art". Guess what that means? "Balu's (paper) Bits and Bytes Art'' as he explains it.
Veteran mediaman-turned-peace activist, V.Balu, is now off to Goa to present for the first time there his Collage Plus Collection, on an invitation from the Department of Arts and Culture of the Goa Government. The land of sun, surf, and feni will see action of a different kind when Balu unveils his collection of unique and painstakingly assembled paper collages, each with the theme of universal peace.
Why art for peace? "Such is the melody of `Shanti' that one can spontaneously sing a lullaby to it, as well celebrate its cool calmness, with colours. The harmony of colours achieves through the eyes what great music does through the ears,'' he says. "Basically, art for me is my way of meditation. It helps me not only in the communication of the dimensions of peace, but also in total communication. It is my vehicle for an inward journey.''
Paper may be a commonplace article, but for Balu, it is a wondrous material. The simple pair of scissors is superb for him. "Otherwise why should the barbers in town be so jealous of my scissors?" he asks. "While paper pieces of different colours substitute for paint, the scissors replace the brush. Even as I cut the bits of paper, I am in a trance and drift into a state of bliss. Art is a great way to peace within you.''
V.Balu has been creating collages for over four decades now, using bits of paper from old magazines and newspapers. Having once been a government official, he explains his penchant for paper thus: "Show me the government officer who is not fond of paperwork!"
And how does he create BBB Art? He assembles his collages using hundreds of pieces of paper. The time taken varies from one to six months.
He then gets them scanned with the aid of the computer and gives digital touches to the images before taking out just one print of each of them. He adds more paper bits before getting the final work laminated and framed.
His peace presentations have been organised at different centres in India, at the Johannestift organisation in Berlin, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in Belgium, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in London, at the Dag Hammerskjold Auditorium of the UN, the New York and Cornell universities, the Art Institute of Boston, at the MIT, and N.Y. Bonaventure University. The UNESCO office and the Indian Embassy in Mexico arranged a social show and conference on his theme, "From a Year of Peace to an era of peace".
By K.Satyamurty
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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