Sayed Haider Raza (22nd February 1922- 23rd July 2016)

Sayed Haider Raza was born in 1922 in Madhya Pradesh and studied painting at the Nagpur School of Art and the Sir J.J.School of Art. After receiving a French government scholarship in 1950 he left for Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris. Raza was awarded the Prix de la Critique in Paris in 1956. In 1962 he served as a visiting lecturer at the University of California in Berkeley, USA. Raza was one of the founders of the Progressive Artists’ Group, along with K.H. Ara and F.N. Souza. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, including the Sao Paulo Biennale in 1958, the Biennale de Menton, in France in 1966, 1968 and in 1978, and Contemporary Indian Painting, at the Royal Academy in London, in 1982.

In December 1978 the Madhya Pradesh Government invited him to his native state for homage and an exhibition of his work in Bhopal. He was elected Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1983. In 1997 Raza was awarded the Madhya Pradesh Government’s prestigious Kalidas Samman.

He was conferred the Padma Shree Award by the President of India in 1981, the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Debanjan Roy

Debanjan Roy (b. 1975) completed his Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts (Sculpture) from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, in 1998, and Masters in Visual Arts (Sculpture) from Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, in 2000. In 2016, he was also the artist in residence at the Château De La Napoule, Nice, under the Asiatic Museum, Nice, France, in collaboration with Akar Prakar, India.

Some of his recent solo shows include Toying with Gandhi, Akar Prakar, 2019; Metamorphosis, Akar Prakar, New Delhi and France, 2015; Waste Side Story, Akar Prakar, Kolkata, 2014; The Altar of Convenience, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2011; Altar of Convenience, Aicon Gallery, New York, 2013; Looking for Bapu, Akar Prakar, Ahmedabad and Kolkata, 2010. Debanjan has participated in several group shows including Multitudes & Assemblages for Hub India at Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, Turin, Italy, 2022; Sightings: Out of the wild, KNMA Noida, 2019; Seattle Art Museum, USA; Bangladesh Art Biennale, Dhaka, 2013; Vermont Studio Centre Residency Open Studio show, Johnson, USA, 2011 and 2012; Enduring Legacy, Berlin and Munich, Germany; Reprise Aicon Gallery, London; and Who has seen Mr. Gandhi? at Tangerine, Bangalore, 2010, to name a few. He has been awarded the Navonmesha Puraskar by Lath Sarvodaya Trust, Kolkata 2005; Nirman Art Award, Kolkata, 2004; Lalit Kala Akademi Scholarship, New Delhi 2002; Junior Fellowship, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Govt. of India, among other honours. The artist lives and works in Kolkata, India.

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