Alka Pande Profile | Eurekabook

Writing for children on art is very close to my heart. For a long time, we have not made this effort thinking that only the three basic Rs are important. However, art needs its pride of place. Children too need to be given the choice of art reading and given a fair chance to explore their creative potential. Alka Pande

Profile

Alka Pande is one of the few people in India, who represent a fine blend of traditionality, modernity and the contemporary.

Firmly rooted in Indian aesthetics and classical texts, Alka’s rendezvous with ‘rasa’ and ‘karma’ started from her early years.

Her mother’s involvement in Indian classical music introduced her to the ‘sur’ and ‘taal’ of life. That and her ‘karmayogi’ father’s influence, made her aware of the depth of Indian culture and the value of tireless industry.

An art critic, cultural theorist, teacher, curator and author, Alka has been passionately involved with art for nearly three decades. She holds two post graduate degrees - in History and the History of Art - and a PhD from Punjab University.

She was made the head of the department of Fine Arts, as well as the Director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Chandigarh. With a range of research papers to her credit, Alka was awarded the Charles Wallace Award in 1999-2000. In December 2006, she also won the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des lettres, bequeathed on her by the French Government, in recognition of her significant contribution in the field of art and literature.

Gender and identity are her areas of special interest, along with visual arts and Indian aesthetics. A prolific writer on Indology and Art History, Alka has authored several well-acclaimed books, some of which have been translated into foreign languages. She has also played an invaluable role in introducing and promoting emerging contemporary artists in India, some of whom have gained prominence, largely due to her efforts.

She is, at present, the Consultant Arts Advisor and Curator of the Visual Arts Gallery at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Like a true visionary, she is driven more by the process of Art than the end result. Alka, however, balances the market demand with the artistic process.