Friends,
Radha-Krishna, The Epiphany, painting exhibition of Play & Paint Studio at Sutra Gallery on 12 June, 2026, sent warm waves of creativity of the young budding visual artists and also dancers of Raas Leela Performing Arts Studio, Klang.
It was a proud occasion for Priya Yogi, director of both institutions. As the force and inspiration behind her students, she had worked hard, together with Klang artist Antonio Lopez, to crystallise the beauty in the paintings. Dance teacher Geethika Sree from Sutra had travelled every weekend to teach the lyrical grace of Odissi to the young Klang dancers as part of Sutra’s Dance Outreach Program.
Happily, the paintings were appreciated, judging from the good sale of the works by the young artists who were able to interpret the timeless Radha-Krishna romance. The vibrant colours and metaphors of springtime love-play replete with flamboyant flora and fauna, were exploited to the full. There was a naive innocence in the charming manner the romance of Radha and Krishna was depicted on the banks of Yamuna River, profiled against the romantic full moon spring night.
The occasion was a gala event with audience attending in full force. Not unlike a Malay ‘kenduri’ activity, it gives everyone the opportunity for a communal participation to ‘sibuk-sibuk saja’.
Tan Sri Mazlan Othman (Guest of Honour), Malaysia’s effervescent astrophysicist, in her excellent speech reminded us not only of the existence of ‘Art’ in Science, but also of Oscar Wilde’s famous quote, that ‘Art, (unlike science) is essentially, useless’.
Art, however, in its apparent purposelessness, ultimately, invests ‘meaning’ and adds value to the phenomenon of human experience and existence.
As I sat among the guests amidst the rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning of an impending rain that added magic to the night, I was soaked in the mood and beauty of the performance of the young dancers. Together with rest of the audience, we could feel the palpable heightened state of ‘rasa’ and aura of positivity and ‘seri’ descending on Sutra’s sylvan garden, giving a profound ‘meaning’ to its existence.
The young dancers of Raas Leela performed a difficult Odissi Sabhinaya Pallavi (in rag Kolabati) of my guru, the late Shri Debaprasad Das. The Odia abhinaya of medieval poet Banamali Das, depicted the first-time encounter of a young maiden with her beloved Krishna.
It was significant and special that Guru Gajendra Kumar Panda (who had came from Odisha to perform the previous night for the 582nd Bharat Sanskri Yatra for The Hindustani Music & Art Society), was also present during the performance. Guru Gajendra was part of the recording of this music. He was then a young teenager and our shared Odissi pioneer guru, Shri Debaprasad, had engineered the recording of this music specially for me.
The music, therefore, recorded almost 50 years ago, sent the message of the continuity and manner which Art & Culture, had travelled enormous distances to become a vehicle, bestowing ‘meaning’ to the lives of the young dancers and artists of Klang, now before us.
The artists fortunately had found a safe platform at Sutra, to allow this ‘meaning’ to manifest in their lives.
The trial by fire of presenting the exhibition and performance unwittingly became the artistic alchemy which would hopefully transform their perspective of Life, forever.
(Do come to the exhibition Radha-Krishna, the Epiphany and performance, Odissi Anjali, today and tomorrow, 13 & 14 June, 2026, 8pm at Sutra House).