Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Artist Harchandan Singh Bhatty from Bhopal has been selected for Padma Shri award for 2025 for his four decades of contribution to the field of arts.
Bhatty, 65, has been associated with Bharat Bhavan since 1984. His biggest contribution to the field of arts has been Tribal Museum, widely considered one of the best repositories of tribal art in the country.
The state government had conferred Rashrtiya Kalidas Samman on him earlier.
Free Press spoke to Bhatty about his journey.
Excerpts
Tell us something about your family background.
My father came from Punjabi family of Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). I was born in Dehradun, where my father worked Indian Military Academy after migrating to India following partition. My mother came from Lohar (blacksmith) community.
How did you develop interest in arts?
As a child, I loved to paint. As most of my time was spent on painting and drawing, I failed in Class 10 examination.
Meanwhile, we shifted to Indore, where my father got his next posting and I joined the diploma course at the Government Institute of Fine Arts there.
How did you get associated with Bharat Bhavan?
When I was a student in Indore, eminent painter J Swaminathan, who was heading the Roopankar wing of Bharat Bhavan, came to Indore. He was looking for artists to work for Roopnakar.
I met him, he saw my work and asked me to immediately come to Bhopal and start working for Bharat Bhavan. How was the experience of working at Bharat Bhavan It was great. There was Ashok Vajpayee, there was theatre doyen BV Karanth and of course Swaminathan ji. I learned a lot from them. I joined Bharat Bhavan in 1984 and retired as deputy director in 2021. But I am still associated with it and also with Acharya Shankar Nyas for its Omkareshwar Project. At Bharat Bhavan, I was fortunate to get many opportunities. I worked as an art designer for Khajuraho Dance Festival, Lokrang, Tansen Samaroh and many others.
How did you get associated with Tribal Museum project?
Kapil Tiwari, who was the director of Adivasi Lok Kala and Boli Academy, involved me in the project. It was decided that tribal artists should set up the museum. The concept was ours but it was executed by tribal artists. We contacted more than 1,500 tribal artists for this.
Today, I feel happy when people say that it is a unique institution. Any regrets in life? None. Sometimes, I did feel frustrated because I wanted to become a painter but ended up as an art designer.
But, then, if you excel in any field, you get recognition. I getting picked for Padma Shri proves that.
