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'Farmers are frontline workers': Indian artist Swain launches virtual showcase

New Delhi - Farmer’s issues were never the focus of discussions during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis

Pradosh Swain, a leading Delhi-based artist, is launching his virtual showcase, Power of Plough, on Saturday, coinciding with Akshaya Tritiya, celebrated across India, and especially as farmers festival in Odisha, his native state. And the focus is on farmers, “the silent warriors of the pandemic.”

According to the artist, farmer’s issues were never the focus of discussions during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. “Farmers feed the world but can never work from home, even during the lockdown,” he told a journalist in an interview. “If that ever happens, we will all starve.”

He warned that converting farmland into concrete structures across India could drastically impact food production. His paintings reflect these fears. One portrays a child on a ‘roti’ and chain with locks; another has a uniformed soldier tied to a rope and descending, with a plough chained down.

Pradosh had also displayed his paintings at the Amore e Cura – Celebration of love and compassion, that had been staged in an open public art exhibition in Delhi in February. The show was held in an open space in Gurugram and 30 artists had put up their paintings and sculptures on display. It was organised by Empowerment, a Delhi-based NGO.

Originally from a small village near Cuttack in Odisha, Pradosh’s work reflects his upbringing in the rural area. Some of his paintings reflect the dilemma confronting children in farms, who face challenges in opting for a classroom or the farm.