An artful display of talent in Pune

What could be a better place than a calendar to display the artistic talent of children? This was the thought that drove writer-entrepreneur, LM Kadu, to publish a calendar carrying drawings and paintings made by children.

A four-day exhibition displaying various kinds of calendars for 2011 with paintings of children began on Monday at Balgandharva Rangmandir.

The event has been organised by the publishing house owned by Kadu. The firm has been working for the last 32 years to promote art by children. “Guests at home would talk on various issues, from politics to inflation and the US to Ulhasnagar. But children would never be their topic of discussion. It would upset me and thus was the idea to have an art corner in drawing room,” said Kadu.

Kadu has been exhibiting paintings sent to him by thousands of children every year for a decade. “I neither reject a single picture nor do I rate them. I take the picture as it is and print it on the calendar. Most of the time elders fail to analyse the picture and get involved in its intricacies. But children have to say a lot more through their pictures,” he said.

“After receiving the picture, I send a postcard in the name of the child and invite him/her to be present for the four-day exhibition,” he said.

The calendar is designed in such a way that the drawing of the child is in the centre, surrounded by dates of the month.

“My aim is to generate awareness about drawing and art among children,” he said.