Birth centenary celebrations of artist from Oct 28

Mangaluru: The birth centenary of BG Mohammed, one of the finest artists of the city, will be held at the Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall from Friday to October 30.
Committee secretary B Ganesh Somayaji told reporters on Tuesday, that an art exhibition of paintings by the students of BGM Fine Arts will be inaugurated by former chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Friday.
Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel will release the souvenir on the occasion. Postmaster general Karnataka Circle, S Rajendra Kumar, will release a special cover brought out to commemorate the birth centenary of B G Mohammed.
The inaugural function will be followed by a Bharatanatyam poetic rendering, on the theme ‘Sambhavami Yuge Yuge’ by the students of Natyanjali Nrithya Academy, Surathkal, and directed by Vidwan Chandrashekar Navada.
An art competition and felicitation of artists will be held from 10.30 am on Saturday. Children below 10 will participate in the art competition, which will be inaugurated by Trevor Pinto, president of Artists Combine, Mangaluru.
Renowned senior artist PS Punchithaya will present an art demonstration between 4 pm and 5 pm. Achievers in the world of art, Gowri Mallya, Latha, Sandhya Ramesh Rao, Prof Ananthapadmanabha Rao, Dr Rajaram Rai, Dr Rathnakar Shetty, Sanjeeva Rao, Roopa Vasundhara Acharya, Smitha Raj, Savitha Chandra Shekar, Geetha Sharma, Poornima, Krishna Prasad Shetty, Keerthi Dayananda Bejai, Shabari Ganiga, Akanksha Alva and Rathan M, will be felicitated.
On October 30, selected artists from an online art competition, will paint on the spot, between 10 am and 1.30 pm. An art demonstration by art teacher and BG Mohammed’s son, Shabbir Ali, will be held between 4 pm and 5 pm. Artists who have excelled in various fields, like Akther Hussain, Sujanya Joshi, Bharathi Shetty, Yajneshwara Acharya, Prof P Achutha Rao, Merlyn Rasquinha, Asha Rao Aroor, Naveena Rai, Eddie Sequiera, Shameena, Rony D’Souza, Shabbir Ali, Shameer Ali and Gowri Pai will be felicitated during the valedictory programme.
BG Mohammed was born in 1920 in Mangaluru. After his primary education, he moved to Udupi, and studied art in gurukula style, and later worked in two studios in Mangaluru, to learn photography.
Later, he began his art career at Sharada Press.
However, he quit the job, and with the support of Jerald Fernandes, Herald Lasrado and Ramesh, he began teaching art. Thus began BGM Fine Arts in 1953, which has trained hundreds of students, said B G Mohammed Birth Centenary Celebration Committee vice-president Prof Ananthapadmanabha Rao.