The Hindu Online edition of India's National Newspaper, Saturday, Sep 10, 2005, B. MADHU GOPAL
ART PROPAGATOR Abburi Gopalakrishna Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
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"The young amateurs hold a lot of promise but lack of exposure to the works of renowned artists and inadequate training facilities to hone their skills are reflected in their works." This was the comment of one of the judges of THE HINDU Young World On-the-Spot Painting Competition held at Swarna Bharati Indoor Stadium in Visakhapatnam last year.
"Though there is a growing interest in art among the general public, vested interests are only trying to 'cash' in on the situation but are not making any effort at promoting and sustaining that interest," he felt.
Wonder who's he?
He is Abburi Gopalakrishna, retired Head of the Department of Theatre Arts in Andhra University. His passion for the promotion of art was evident when he spent Rs.2 lakhs out his total PF amount of Rs.3.5 lakhs for establishment of the Abburi Kala Kendram (Abburi Art Gallery) in May 1997. He had spent the amount to provide special lighting, plywood boards and to acquire a few paintings of renowned artists to set up the gallery at his rented house in MVP Colony.
During its short-lived existence of three years, 35 exhibitions were organised at the gallery. When there were no exhibitions, he took painting classes for art enthusiasts free of cost. Some of those who underwent training at the gallery bagged awards at the national-level and a few went abroad.
The gallery was let out for expos at a nominal cost to meet the maintenance expenditure. Interactions between artists and school children were held regularly at the gallery to promote art awareness. It's a different matter that the gallery had to be closed as the owners had sold the house.
Gopalakrishna was born in Visakhapatnam on March 2, 1937. His father Abburi Ramakrishna Rao, AU's first Librarian, sowed the seeds of art and culture in Abburi Junior at an early age. His sister Rajyalakshmi was a student of the legendary violinist Dwaram Venkataswamy Naidu.
Ramakrishna Rao practised music as a hobby and developed a keen interest in art after visiting Shantiniketan. After he became a librarian the whole world of art was in front of his eyes.
"By the age of 12, I knew about Pablo Picasso and the other great painters and also learnt art appreciation," recalls Gopalakrishna. He learnt painting for four years under renowned artist A. Paidi Raju between 1949 and 1953. Taking advanced diploma in painting in honours division from the Government College of Fine Arts (1954-1960), Abburi obtained a Ph.D. for his thesis on `Tallapaka Annamacharya and Yaksha Gana Tradition' from AU in 1986.
His father was director of a theatre group, `Naatya Vidyalaya', and it was only natural that Gopalakrishna was drawn towards the stage.
"We made several experiments. I transformed Sri Sri's `Vidhushakudi Aatmahatya' into a surrealistic drama. Sri Sri was impressed by my adaptation of his work and expressed his desire to see the play on stage. Unfortunately, on the day we planned to enact the drama, VIRASAM (Revolutionary Writers Association) was born and the play couldn't be staged. Later, most of the VIRASAM members went underground and Sri Sri couldn't watch the play," he reminisces with nostalgia.
His stage activity and subsequent entry into the AU Theatre Arts Department as a teacher in 1974 literally made him bury his brush for the next 25 years. Before his retirement from university service in 1997, Gopalakrishna was honorary director of the Gurazada Kalakshetram, the open-air theatre under the control of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority. He encouraged staging of dramas, dance and cultural activities by fixing nominal charges. He gave up the job, unable to meet the demands of VUDA.
Gopalakrishna is also a poet and has over 100 published works to his credit. He wrote nine plays and had presented and published 36 research papers at various seminars and in research journals.
"Visakhapatnam is called the `cultural capital of AP' but here there is no Government-owned auditorium like Hyderabad's Ravindra Bharati, where regular cultural activity can be held. Kalabharati is not given any exemption in power tariff and therefore the rent is very high," he laments.
"My dream of an art museum in the city has materialised with the cooperation of Municipal Commissioner N. Srikant and Visakha Museum curator Patrudu who had accepted my proposal to set up an art section in the museum. "I donated some of my paintings to the museum in the name of my father and my brother Abburi Varada Rajeswara Rao," he says.
Abburi Gopalakrishna hopes that the Government would set up an auditorium and an art gallery in the city.
