A CANVAS OF BEGINNINGS FOR THE CITY’S YOUNG ARTISTS

Vadodara: City's art scene came alive on Friday as annual degree shows opened across leading fine arts institutions, offering a vibrant showcase of emerging talent and marking a key milestone for graduating students.At the faculty of fine arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, the two-day annual degree show features final-year undergraduate and postgraduate students across disciplines including painting, sculpture, printmaking, applied arts and design.Studios and exhibition halls across the campus have been transformed into dynamic display spaces, presenting over 500 artworks by around 120 students. Dean Ambika Patel said the show allows students to present themselves as practising artists. She noted that the platform enables them to engage directly with galleries and audiences, while representing the legacy of the Baroda School of Art.In a parallel showcase, the Parul Institute of Fine Arts is hosting "Chrysalic Dreams: Annual Degree Show 2026," its first dedicated exhibition of graduating students. The show features 15 BVA students working across painting and sculpture, and will remain open to the public till April 26.The artworks explore themes such as identity, memory, displacement and psychological spaces. Artists including Htein Lin, Vaishnavi Sahu, Prutha Morsania and Sania Memon present deeply personal narratives through varied visual languages.DHARTI PRAJAPATIDharti Prajapati, an MVA (sculpture) student from Vasad, draws from her upbringing in a potter family where clay is central to daily life. Working in terracotta, she explores childhood memories through figurative forms that reflect innocence and familiarity. Her works often feature a dupatta-clad figure and everyday objects like a terracotta khatai. She also incorporates mirrors, making the work interactive. For Prajapati, clay serves as both material and metaphor, representing how identity is shaped over time by care and unseen influences.DECHEN DORJIDechen Dorji, a BVA (painting) student from Bhutan, bases his work on Buddhist philosophy and traditional symbolism. Inspired by the mandala, he explores themes of balance, protection and stability.His installation includes four suspended pillars representing protective forces of the four directions. It is accompanied by six charcoal and acrylic works on paper.His works range from small drawings to large formats, reflecting personal ideas through a visual language rooted in cultural and spiritual traditions.MUSA MIAMusa Mia, an MVA (painting) student from Bangladesh, explores landscapes through memory and time. Drawing from his upbringing in Mymensingh near the Brahmaputra, he focuses on water, paddy fields and open horizons. His large-scale charcoal works, some up to 20 feet, reconstruct landscapes rather than depict them directly. Working with charcoal for nearly four years, Mia uses a slow, layered process with constant reworking, where the process is as important as the final image. KARNEKOTA SAIKarnekota Sai, an MVA (sculpture) student from Hyderabad, is showcasing a body of work that explores the human form as a site of cultural and social tension. Drawing from childhood exposure to traditions like Bonalu and figures such as Pothuraju, Sai's early understanding of the body was shaped by ideas of strength and symbolism. His later engagement with urban culture and media prompted him to question dominant standards of beauty. Working primarily in terracotta, along with materials such as paper pulp and wax, he has created around 30 lifelike sculptures that examine vulnerability and transformation.
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