Chandigarh: On 22nd of November, 2014, the Govt. Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh felicitated Ms Harbhajan Sandhu, a noted sculptor. She was given an award of honor by Mrs Bhawana Garg, IAS, Secretary Culture, Chandigarh Administration.
Ms Harbhajan Sandhu’s association with the Chandigarh museum can be traced back to late 1960s when the museum was in a fledgling state. It was also the time when Dr. MS Randhawa took an unprecedented interest in building up the collection of art. Through his tireless devotion, he was able to acquire remarkable collection of many well-known exponents of modern sculpture -Dhanraj Bahagat, Chintamoni Kar, Ram Kinker Baij. During the same period, museum also acquired works of some women artists – Sundari Swaminathan, Harbhajan Sandhu to name a few.
On the occasion of felicitation of Ms Harbhajan Sandhu, the museum has put up an exhibition of some of the sculptures purchased during the sixties, a period that saw a major growth in the Indian art scene. The exhibition also brought for the people of Chandigarh some of the sculptures and paintings of Ms Sandhu from her personal collection. The exhibition was inaugurated by Ms. Sandhu.
According to the Director, Museum & Art Gallery, Ms. Amandeepp Kaur “The Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh brings for the people of Chandigarh, a special exhibition of sculptures purchased long time back. It’s an opportunity for them to enjoy these sculptures, some of them like those of Sobha Brahma and Sundari Swaminathan being exhibited for the first time.”
Hailing from Punjab and having studied at Baroda followed by higher education at Kent, USA, Ms Harbhajan Sandhu had a firm foundation in art. Ms Sandhu was not contented with just one medium and experimented with different media – bronze, cement and stone, easily slipping from one to another, testing their inherent qualities and creating different forms with them. Espousing the ideals of preservation of art, Ms Sandhu laments the neglect of art in Punjab and even at this age is attempting to save it by proposing to create a museum.
A mobile van exhibition on “Dandi Yatra” was also flagged off on the occasion.