Orijit Sen – The Man behind Majestic Mural of PUNJAB at Anandpur Sahib’s Virasat-e-Khalsa Museum

The man behind the awe-inspiring mural of Punjab at Anandpur Sahib’s Virasat-e-Khalsa is renowned Indian graphic artist and designer Orijit Sen

Long considered the gateway to the Indian subcontinent, the Punjab is a vast geographical area with a long and storied history. Sen’s epic mural renders this culturally rich region in compelling ways that blend busy human populated landscapes with a diverse natural world of flora and fauna that is increasingly under threat from modernization.

The mural from Punjab, with Love blends history and the everyday with festivals, weddings, women washing clothes, shopping, cooking; men ploughing the fields, tying turbans, riding motorcycles; children flying kites, enjoying school life, playing sports—a panorama of traditional and modern Punjabi life.

Orijit Sen writes about the inspiration for the mural: “The parallel realities of the past and the present seem to bring to their [Punjabis’] everyday existence a special something: a sense of life that is lived in the here and now, of joys and sorrows that are experienced and expressed without reservation; something that remains open-hearted and generous, and laughs in the face of troubles. It is a special something that I have set out to capture through my artworks, which I hope serve at the very least as a reflection and affirmation of the irrepressible, indomitable Punjabi spirit.”

About the Artist:

Orijit Sen studied graphic design at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. He is considered one of India’s first graphic novelists with River of Stories published in 1994 and often works in a miniature style combined with his own distinct graphic style. Sen has done several exhibitions and museum design projects in India, the United Kingdom, and Russia and is a co-founder of People Tree, a centre for design, crafts and sustainable living based in Delhi.

Source- www.surrey.ca