Project Tiger @ 50: Tiger vignettes to adorn Ganj Metro Station in Lucknow
The exhibition is being orgainsed to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Project Tiger which was launched in 1973
Some 76 artworks on tigers, meticulously clicked and painted over the years by 42 artists, including veterans and amateurs, will be exhibited on the central theme of Project Tiger in Lucknow.
The exhibition is being orgainsed to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of ‘Project Tiger’ which was launched in 1973 by then PM Indira Gandhi, for their conservation.
“As the project completes 50 years this year, several artists from various ages, professions and backgrounds from 13 states will be showcasing their art at the 10-day exhibition to be titled ‘Tiger Metro’ at Hazratganj metro station Gate 1,” said Bhupendra K Asthana, exhibition curator.
60-yr-old homemaker and wildlife photographer
“Tiger being the national animal of our country, photography is one way to show our love for the creature,” said 60-year-old Lucknowite, Aruna Singh, a homemaker-turned-veteran wildlife photographer whose photograph of a Royal Bengal Tiger in Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh will be displayed.
Singh has multiple such photographs of tigers which she has captured by travelling to various national sanctuaries and parks over the years and some collections of Kenya and Sri Lanka.
Singh’s love for wildlife started in childhood while living in the interiors of MP due to her father’s posting who was a police officer. Marital responsibilities and children forced that passion to be relegated to the backburner, but after her children got settled, Singh reignited it.
Singh has won several awards and acknowledgements for her contributions to wildlife photography.
Businessmen to students to proclaim tiger love
Lokesh Rastogi, 59, captured tigress T99 and her three cubs at Rajasthan’s Ranthambore Tiger Reserve which will be displayed at the exhibition. A businessman and a passionate wildlife photographer, Rastogi has visited many tiger reserves across India and spends around seven days every month in forests.
“I visit African countries and have also recently returned from Alaska just to capture wildlife,” said the Lucknow resident, who is following his passion for the last seven years
Likewise, 38-year-old Aditya Havelia’s photographs of tigers in UP’s Dudhwa Tiger Reserve will also be an attraction of the exhibition.
Besides tigers, Havelia specialises in underwater photography and has gone to dense jungles of Australia and India for his passion.
Prakhar Krishan’s two photographs of tigers in a frame at the exhibition show. In one photograph he has tried to show the tiger in its natural environment and is a behavioural display of the mammal in the summertime while in the second he captured a famous tigress called Spotty from the Tala zone in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
Similarly, Deependra Singh Rajpoot, an MA student of Arts College, LU, has tried to put his calligraphy skills to test by using a combination of Gothic style, Devnagari script and English language.
“This exhibition will be open for art lovers till July 2. Programmes will also be organised daily during this 10-day exhibition, in which contests and talks will continue,” said Manoj S Chandel, convener.
