jangsverman: 2020

DR. S S BHATTI: A Versatile Personality, Researcher with Innovative Concepts

(Jang S. Verman)

Dr. S S Bhatti, a veteran architect, artist, art and literary critic, poet, writer, and an academician is a versatile personality hailing from Chandigarh. He has proved to be a great researcher, genius, and innovator of his philosophical concepts on various issues. Born on 24^th June, 1938 at Amritsar (Punjab, India) in the family of artists, architects, artisans and builders, Dr. Bhatti got engaged in art activity at the age of 5 years. Later, in his life, he qualified B Arch (Bombay University), M Arch (The University of Queensland, Australia), Ph D (Architecture), Ph D (Theology), Ph D (Historical Monuments), all from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He joined Chandigarh College of Architecture as a teaching faculty and retired as Principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture, Chandigarh. During that period he engaged in a lot of art, literary, philosophical, and architecture undertakings of immense importance. Dr. Bhatti has done over 2,000 sketches (including those of historical monuments), drawings, paintings, prints, designs, illustrations, murals, and other works of art. He has executed his artworks by using a variety of mediums. The themes of his works have revolved around landscape of historical monuments, portraits, mythology, metaphysics, and studies of Jesus Christ, Shiva and Durga, tribute- paying portrait- based visuals of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Guru Ravi Dass and Guru Nanak Dev.

He has conceived, designed, edited and produced souvenir on Le Corbusier’s Centenary Celebrations (1887- 1987), Le Corbusier’s Centenary Calendar was published by Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Chandigarh; prepared text, design and artwork for tourist literature on Chandigarh’s town plan, architecture, Rock Garden, etc. for CITCO; conceived, designed, edited and produced the souvenir on Rock Garden, brought out on 7^th July, 1988, when its creator, Nek Chand Saini was honoured by the Governor of Punjab and the Administrator of Union Territory, Chandigarh.

He has worked on Literary Criticism on Contemporary Urdu Poetry. He has been instrumental in promoting art criticism and art activity in North- Western India. He has been the official Art Critic of The Tribune (1977- 1997) and covered over four hundred state, regional, national level/ international level Art Exhibitions. Through special articles, published in national newspapers and magazines, he created widespread awareness of the art being produced in this part of the country. As a result, several artists (previously little known) have won national and international awards and established the artistic credentials of Chandigarh, Punjab, and the adjoining States of Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir. This awareness campaign was reinforced with seminars, group discussions and audio- visual presentations.

He has done original Applied Research in Art and Architecture which was pioneered by him in early 1970s, and which produced his internationally- acclaimed thesis: ‘The Rock Garden of Chandigarh- A Critical Evaluation of the Work of Nek Chand’ for which The University of Queensland, Australia, conferred on him the M Arch Degree (1983). He is pursuing research in Art. He developed a full chapter titled ‘Art in Chandigarh’ in his doctoral thesis on Chandigarh (1991). This work won him the Journal of the Indian Institute of Architects (JIIA) National Award for Excellence in Architecture (Research Category) in 1993. In his second Ph D titled ‘Creative Mysticism: A Study of Guru Nanak’s Bani with Special Reference to Japuji’, he made an exhaustive investigation into the realm of Creativity, which is the first of its kind exploring as it does Creativity at the core of Mysticism (2000). He broadened and deepened the scope of Aesthetics, especially as embodied in the maxim: ‘Architecture is the Mother of all Arts’, in his third doctorate titled ‘Sri Harmandar Sahib: A Study of Architecture, Engineering and Aesthetics’ (2008).

Dr. S S Bhatti, after giving thought to the vision of the philosophers and seers, has come up with his innovative philosophical concepts of Creativity. According to him, “Creativity is a perennial adventure into the realm of the human spirit. The major components of Creativity are art and craft, representing sensibility and design, and skill and dexterity, respectively. The two are interdependent in an indispensable way. Art without craft can remain only in the area of aesthetic appreciation. Craft without art often ends up as a juggler’s show of skill for its own sake ... Creativity is a Whole, born in the contemplative commingling of Art and Craft, and transcending its two constituent parts- Art and Craft as individual faculties/ entities to move effortlessly into artistic creation which lies in the realm of significance ... It is left to an individual’s Creativity to exploit the intrinsic strengths and weaknesses of the material chosen as a vehicle of Art... Creativity transforms human experience into an image. Contemplation transforms an image into human experience, to the level of psycho- spiritual (i.e. deeply internalised) instant seeing... When a skill is used dexterously as a congenial means to an inspired end, Creativity becomes its own spontaneous, soul- stirring expression. Then, Art bodies forth as a significant image of that experience which is born only within the unfathomed depths of the human soul where a continuous active silence dwells.”

His concept of 4- D Creative Learning also needs to be discussed here. He has developed a unique Concept and Methodology of imparting instruction in Holistic Creativity, in which he enacts a confluence of Theory (Thought), Practice (Action), Research (Investigation) and Pedagogy (Dissemination) vis- à- vis History, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology and Culture, so as to drive home the fundamental truth that the Human Mind is an organic whole and, therefore, whatever it creates, is of necessity, an aesthetic organism that cannot be dismembered in any way except intellectually, thus awakening the student of Art to his own psycho- spiritual inner powers to indulge in the Act of Creation as self- expression of the Human Genius.

He has executed various murals and sculptures at different places in the City Beautiful. He has executed Murals at Punjab Kala Bhawan, Chandigarh, DAV College, Chandigarh, ‘Bougain-Villa’. The Bougain- Villa was awarded second prize for distinguished landscape design and upkeep at the 20^th Rose Festival, Chandigarh in 1992. He has designed a 25 feet high sculpture in bronze- strips for The Tribune premises (project), depicting the theme ‘Freedom of the Press’; Mild- steel bars (waste material) welded sculpture for ‘Bougain- Villa’ on the theme: ‘Ascent of Man’; ‘Bougain- Villa’ entrance- gate/ signboard/ insignia/ letter- box in exposed brick- and- tile work with concealed lighting, planters, etc.; Flat- iron sculpture, figurative and abstract, and Gunny- bag- cement sculpture ‘Gestation’ done in mid- nineteen- seventies, was the first experiment of its kind in the city to exploit the texture and pattern of the marks left by gunny- bag on cement- forms.

He has been taking part in art exhibitions since the age of 12. He has participated in the exhibitions of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, Indian Academy of Fine Arts, Amritsar; Group shows held by Chandigarh Artists Forum (CAF) and National Exhibition of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, Panjab University Fine Arts Museum, Chandigarh; Paridhi, Shimla; The Creators, Ambala; Creative Folks, Jalandhar; Symphony, Hoshiarpur and Form Function Art Gallery, Chandigarh. He has held One- Man Shows at Taj Art Gallery, Bombay, at Museum of Fine Arts, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab Kala Bhawan and IndusInd Bank Art Gallery, Chandigarh. He has participated in several state and regional art workshops and camps.

Dr. S S Bhatti has been conferred various awards and honours for his water colour, oil pastel painting and drawing artworks. The Inspector of Schools gave him a rare Certificate of exceptional artistic merit in 1950 when was 12 years old. He was awarded by the Indian Academy of Fine Arts, Amritsar in 1951 and 1973; Two cash prizes in Intermediate Drawing Grade Examination of Bombay Government (1954); Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, 1981; Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi, 1983, 1986 and 1995; The Creators, Ambala, 1986, 1994- 95 and 1996; Symphony, Hoshiarpur, 1986. All India Fine Arts & Crafts Society (AIFACS) has conferred on him the title of ‘Veteran Artist’ (1999) and Pracheen Kala Kendra honoured him for his outstanding contribution in the field of art and art criticism in the region, 1992. He was also honoured by Shaheed Memorial Service Society, Ludhiana, Art India for outstanding contribution to the cause of art, 1989; and Certificate of Commendation by the Chandigarh Administration for outstanding services in the design and preparation of Chandigarh Union Territory Tableau on the theme of ‘Save Sukhna Lake’, which was displayed in the Republic Day Parade on 26^th January, 1989.

He was appointed ‘Corresponding Academician’ by Accademia Internazionale <<Greci- Marino>> Accademia del Verbano, di Lettre, Arti, Scienze, Italia (1998) and ‘Academical Official Knight’ by the National Academy of Literature, Art, & Science, Italy (2000), (the next higher honour than the ‘Academical Correspondent’) and now appointed ‘National Art Adviser for India’ by Italy’s National Academy, which is an honour superior to ‘Academical Official Knight’. He has served as Vice- President of Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi for one term.

His name has been included in the prestigious publications like Who’s Who in International Art, International Biographical Art Dictionary, published and distributed in Switzerland, Edition 1996/ 97; Artists’ Directory, published by National Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; Kala Kird, Art & Artists Directory, published by Chinh Publications, Bombay, etc. Articles on Dr. Bhatti have been published in India Magazine; The Tribune; Alive, and other magazines. Dr. Mulk Raj Anand has written an exclusive piece titled: ‘Bhatti’s Mastery of Paint’.

In his capacity as Dean, Faculty Design & Fine Arts, Panjab University (1984- 1996), he made significant contribution to art education in terms of pedagogic techniques, coursework, and examination and evaluation system, in all he institutions under his charge. Dr. Bhatti has acted as external examiner for Ph D in Art. He has been instrumental in promoting artists and appreciation of their art through his articles published in national magazines like The Illustrated Weekly of India. He has written monographic evaluative accounts of several artists with a view to promoting them at the national level. Included in this distinguished list are: S K Sahni (Delhi), HG Jhamb, Shiv Singh, D P Rayat, Desh Ranjan, Bheem Malhotra, Prabhinder Lall, Subhash Shorey and S M Mansoor (a modern miniature painter from Lahore, Pakistan) and a monograph on the work of Jarnail Singh, son of the legendary painter of Sikh History Kirpal Singh. He has delivered lectures on art, architecture Modern Art, memorial lectures on well- known artists like B C Sanyal Memorial Lecture. His article on S G Thakur Singh appeared in The Illustrated Weekly of India, with his painting ‘After Bath’ carried on the cover- page and article on Sobha Singh, the most famous artist of Punjab, renowned for his iconographic portraits of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh, appears in The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, published by Punjabi University, Patiala. He has written a book titled ‘Journey of the Straight Line, an Exposition of S K Sahni’s Work and Creativity’. His book ‘Artists of Punjab’ was published by Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi in 1980. His monograph on Shiv Singh has been published under the title ‘Shiv Singh’s World of Art’.

Continuing his 50- year old one- man campaign for the promotion of Art, he made a keynote audio- visual presentation on ‘What should an Architect learn in Art and Design in order to become a Holistic Professional’ at a University Grants Commission (UGC) Sponsored National Workshop organised by the Department of Architecture & Planning, IIT, Roorkee, in 2008. He has introduced and developed the Elective Subject of ‘Art in Architecture’, and made Art an indispensable discipline, for the 5- Year B Arch Course. He prepared a special synchronized audio- visual presentation on Chandigarh’s Rock Garden, for Children’s Museum, Paris (1980- 81), when Nek Chand was invited there for his year- long exhibition. He has given Radio talks on Art, Museums and Art Galleries in Punjab and Chandigarh, Rose Garden, etc. He has served as a Member of the Art Acquisition Committee of the Government Museum & Art Gallery for 14 years.

His art works can be seen in the collections of National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Government Museum & Art Gallery, Chandigarh; Museum of Fine Arts, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Museum of Fine Arts, Punjabi University, Patiala; Camlin Limited, Camlin House, Bombay; Punjab National Bank, Chandigarh and private collectors and art- lovers in India and abroad.

In view of the fact that Dr. S S Bhatti was professionally trained as an architect, in my assessment, his life long mission to promote Art as a divine endowment to all human beings- revealing its unique beauty and bounty in theory, research, practice and pedagogy is truly phenomenal, and would be hard to surpass for a long time to come.