Paris based Odia sculptor invited for int’l symposium in Greece

Bhubaneswar: Paris based Odia sculptor Gadadhar Ojha has been invited to participate in the 8th International Sculpture Symposium municipality of Heraklion Crete, in Venerato village (Crete, Greece) from 4 to 24 July, 2016.

The eight artistes who will participate in this international sculpture symposium organized every 10 years (2006 – 2016) are: Vasilisa Chugunova (Russia), Giorgie Cpajak (Serbia), Gadadhar OJHA (India), Carol Turner (USA), Anthony Mirodias (Greece), Odysseus Tosounidis (Greece), Chris Tsoumplekas (Greece) and Manolis Charkoutsis (Greece)

These distinguished artists will create their works on the white marble of Thassos. On July 4, the sculptors will receive their volume of rough marble with a height of 2.5 meters. They will sculpt their work in a public area, which will be visited for all, till July 24. Τhe closing ceremony of the sculpture symposium will be held on Saturday, July 24 and the sculptors will submit their works to the municipality of Heraklion to be collated in public areas.

The theme of the symposium is the verse of the Nobel Prize-winning Greek poet Odysseus Elytis “…And time is a passionate sculptor of men…” from the poem "Marina of the Rocks".

Hailing from a family of sculptors, Gadadhar Ojha never really aspired to pursue the family tradition. However, the sound of the hammer and chisel, tap-tapping on stones, always attracted him. No wonder when he landed in Delhi, sent by his father to prepare for the company secretary examination, he found himself visiting the Delhi College of Arts and getting closer to the form of art that ran in his blood.

Having carved a niche for himself as one of the best stone sculptors of the country, Gadadhar today believes he was destined to pursue the art in which his forefathers excelled in.

Born and brought up in the quaint seaside village of Gorhbangor, Badagaon, Puri, he had grown up observing the bounties of nature , the culture and tradition of the state , which moulded and shaped his Imagination.

For the last 15 years, Gadadhar has been settled in the Mecca of Art, Paris, and keeps experimenting with a wide range of materials, including all kinds of stones: granite, marble, sandstone ,wood, metal, ice, snow and bronze.

"But I still prefer stone over all of them because they express my ideas the best ," Ojha told OTV.

Gadadhar Ojha has represented India in symposiums all over the world, including France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Finland, Denmark, Romania, Russia, Argentina, Canada, Cyprus, Lituania, Armenia.