Taste of Indian animation in Belgium

AHMEDABAD: It was a proud moment for the National Institute of Design (NID) and Indian animation when SekharMukherjee, a senior faculty with the NID and director of institute's annual animation fest Chitrakatha, served as one of the jury members at Anima 2013 held at Brussels in Belgium in February. Anima is one of the oldest and prestigious animation festivals of Europe taking place since 32 years.
Mukherjee shared his experience at the festival and drew parallels between Indian and European sensibilities for the medium of animation.
"I was part of an international jury and got to see a number of animation films that were nominated in four categories - commercial, musical, student and professional. One can understand the vastness of the festival by the sheer number - the pre-selection committee had screened around 3,500 entries out of which the final 20 to 25 were presented to the jury. I also curated a 70-minute package to represent Indian animation where I elaborated on its format, challenges and prospect," said Mukherjee.
It was a memorable journey for him as he got to meet Academy award winner Borge Ring, 92, and Raoul Servais who is considered to be the father of Belgian animation. Belgium is considered as the European powerhouse for animation with its most famous export being the teen reporter Tintin created by Herge.
How does he see Indian vis-a-vis European animation? "In India, animation is still considered kid's stuff as we are limited to the mythological characters and occasional comic characters. If we compare it in the European context, the festival was a commitment of sorts - to create a place for creative forces to come together. One can experience the love for graphic art in street art, traffic signs, museums, theatres, parks, footpaths as it is considered to be a part of the ever-changing river of stories that get channeled through animation and comics," said Mukherjee.
He added that graphic art is cherished in Belgium with institutions like Le Centre Belge de la bande dessinee or Belgian Comic strip Centre where one gets to know about graphic art and artists.
Mukherjee said that India is yet to see major experiments in graphic storytelling where we can incorporate themes such as socio-political issues. He added that what we are doing is copying Hollywood that overshadows our indigenous art forms and literature. "I believe that with the efforts like Chitrakatha, we can provide much-needed oxygen to our budding artists," he said.