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Her emergence from an ordinary house-wife to one of the finest collage artists in India is like a fairy tale. Village Noor, nearly 45 km away from Kolkata, where she lives in, was like most other villages of 24-Parganas in West Bengal and she was like any other village woman of rural Bengal.
Way back in 1990 she was a mere faceless woman of a poverty-stricken family of an obscure village, struggling to feed her three children. She had no academic qualifications to speak of. Being born to poor parents, she had been married to a farmer-turned-vegetable vendor, Akbar Sheikh and that too at an early age ! She began making paper bags and selling them afterwards to augment the family’s meager income. And this was – in all probability – her first brush with paper and glue – material that was soon to play a crucial role in her life !
The person in question is none other than Shakila Sheikh who has is now recognised as one of the leading collage artists of the land today.She faced many anxious moments making both ends meet. But Shakila was obviously made of a sterner stuff !
How did she come to be what she is today? Naturally shy Shakila saus with a little smile, “ It’s ‘Baba’ whom I’m greatly indebted to. In fact I’ve no words to express my gratitude to him. “ B.R. Panesar was an eminent artist who passed away a few months back. It was Panesar who brought Shakila and her husband, Akbar to an art exhibition at the Birla Academy in 1990 and that visit played a significant role in her life. Her husband Akbar recalls, “She was profoundly struck by all the paintings and collages which were exhibited at the Birla Academy. Indeed, it was a whole new world for her. On our way back home she said, ‘ What if I do collages ?’ I wondered and said to her, ‘ Could you ever do them? Is it child’s play ?” But it was really clear soon enough that Shakila’s mind was made up about her future.
She expressed her desire to try her hand at collages and started working with the cardboard and old colour magazines that “Baba” had given her. This was – according to Akbar - how her work began,
Panesar soon arranged an exhibition for her at Academy of Fine Arts. It turned out to be a spectacular success. Vegetables was the theme of her work – the entire lot : brinjals, papayas, green chillis and tomatoes all in a profusion of colour. “ Everything was so well arranged that you would have been surprised had you seen it,” says Akbar. Panesar said, “ I invited a few of my colleagues and artist friends who also were eminent, to pay a visit to the exhibition. Most of my friends were so impressed that they told me that Shakila had considerable talent. Their comments inspired Shakila to a great extent.”
Since then she has never looked back. Wherever she has exhibited, be it within the country or abroad, her collages are very well received. Soon after her first exhibition she got the unique privilege of staging a solo exhibition with about 27 of her collages at the Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata. And there were invitations from all over the country – from New Delhi, Bhopal, Nagpur, Varanasi and Mumbai – requesting her to send her work.
Not surprisingly, with recognition and critical acclaim came awards – one after the other . Shakila Sheikh has bagged the West Bengal State Academy of Dance Drama, Music Visual Art, 1991 ; the Governor’s Best Work ; The Annual All India Exhibition of Academy of Fine Arts, 1991 ; the Annual all India Exhibition of Working Artists, Varanasi, 1992. Her works had been displayed in Paris, New York, Hanover and Singapore.
What are the materials she works with, Shakila says, “ I work with some papers, especially old magazines and newspapers, containing colour pictures , cardboard, with home-made gum.” This is all she needs. She pastes bits of papers a sago-copper and the sulphate overlay by herself. She does not paint, but she uses water colours while giving the final touches to her collages.Shakila’s works are very much in demand these days. A few of her works have been sold to art galleries and private collections.
It seems Shakila’s most favorite theme is goddess Kali. She seems to return over and over again to the Kali theme. When asked about it she says, “ Yes, I’ve been drawn to the Kali figure. But my theme – you know – has nothing to do with religion, not so-called established religion, in any case.” It’s true, Shakila doesn’t have a pre=determind theme in mind when she begins working on her collages.. “ What you call theme occurs in the process of making a work,” says Shakila.
Hers is a profile in courage! Despite all odds Shakila has risen above her circumstances. Illiteracy, an early marriage and poverty-stricken family life could not stop Shakila Sheikh from emerging as one of the foremost collage-artists of the country.
