Friends,
The launch of the photography & painting exhibition ‘Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom’ on the 23 January 2026 by Sutra Foundation at Lalit Kala Akademi (Chennai), was an unprecedented success and was enthusiastically received by Chennai-Vasis.
This LKA launch with maximum attendance had the support of the Duchess Club pooled by Rathi Nilakanthan and Nina Reddy of The Savera. Savouring the delicious Malaysian cuisine curated by Jessie Nathan of Champur, prepared at The Savera, the launch cannot but be one of the most glamourous and memorable events in the calendar of the Akademi.
Under the stewardship of M Sovan Kumar (who first mooted the idea as a tribute to the late Dr Dinanath Pathy), the Akademi’s Odia Regional Secretary, the LKA Chennai has become increasingly popular and has started to once again shine with the aura of creativity as a popular exhibition space.
As guests filled the hall, senior Sutra dancers Geethika Sree and Revathi Karthik followed by Ramli, improvised lyrical dance poses through the crowd emphasising the grace and lyricism of Odissi that so inspired our visual artists to immortalise its essence and story.
The two Guests of Honour were the youthful and articulate Malaysian royalty of Negeri Sembilan, HH Tunku Zain, and HE TS Tirumurti, the highly popular former High Commissioner of India to Malaysia and India’s former Ambassador to the United Nation. Their speeches, traced Sutra’s journey that has helped promote the soft cultural diplomacy espoused by the two nations.
The exhibition consisted of works inspired by Odissi made popular in Malaysia not only through its excellent performances but also its integrated visual arts exhibitions.
It was an apt tribute to the late Dr Dinanath Pathy, a beloved and respected figure in the contemporary visual arts movement of Odisha.
The exhibition featured works from a total of 21 artists, seven from each city of Bhubaneswar (Dinanath Pathy, Ramahari Jena, M Sovan Kumar, Helen Brahma, Bibhu Patnaik, Kishore Sahoo, Birendra Pani); Chennai (Shalini Biswajit, AV Ilango, Thejo Menon, A Prathap, Lalit Verma, VV Ramani, Biswajit Subramanian) & Kuala Lumpur (Sivarajah Natarajan, Eric Peris, Syed Thajudeen, Diana Lui, Bayu Utomo Radjikin,
S Magendran & Vasanthi Naidu).
Many guests still remembered Sutra’s early Odissi performances in Chennai in the 1990’s & 2000’s presented by Forum Art Gallery of Shalini Biswajit. Sutra had participated in the ‘Mad Madras’ seasons and appeared in major venues such as Kalakshetra, Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall to Madras Academy.
For Lalit Kala Chennai, it was the first ever Malaysia-India exhibition they have ever had.
The exhibition will travel to Lalit Kala Bhubaneswar (6 – 12 March), Pune (19 – 25 March), Delhi (TBC) and Kuala Lumpur (25 April – 3 May).
Don’t miss this unique event!
Sutra