Akshay Kumar Bariki
Akshaya Kumar Bariki, born in 1981, is celebrated for traditional Pattachitra Painting and Palm Leaf engravings of Odisha. His family, hailing from Raghurajpur, has practised the traditional arts for several generations.
Painted on cotton fabric with earthen hues and bold brushstrokes, Pattachitra is iconic and devotional. The primary themes of these paintings include the epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata and tales of Jagannath. Besides Pattachitra, Bariki also excelled in the art of Talpattra, or Palm-leaf engraving that has originated from the illustrated manuscript or Chitrapothi of Orissa.
Recipient of the National Merit Award in 2011, Bariki won the gold medal from Prafulla Dahanukar Art Foundation in 2017 and the UNESCO award in 2014. He has exhibited his work in various exhibitions, fairs and events, including Dilli Haat, Crafts Museum, NIFT, Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Surajkund Craft Mela, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Lalit Kala Academy and Kalakshetra Foundation, among others. Besides this, he held several workshops in National Science Centre, New Delhi, Baroda Uttarayani Art Foundation and Chennai IIT. Akshaya Bariki lives and works in Raghurajpur, Odisha
Kāru an exhibition of contemporary miniature, tribal and folk art of India. The exhibition features the representative work of the six well-known living masters – Bhuri Bai, Nand Kishor Sharma, Ram Soni, Mohan Prajapati, Akshaya Kumar Bariki and Kalyan mal Sahu - and the skilled artisans working at She Kantha , showing innovations in the rich traditions of visual art.