JOIN USVeteran Kannada writer Vaidehi inaugurated Mukhaputa, the literary-art exhibition, at K K Hebbar Art Gallery and Art Center on the first day of the first literary meet of Manipal International Literature and Arts Platform (Milap) on Friday.
Mukhaputa had previously sent out open invitations for literature-art submissions, all of which have been put on display at the gallery along with an array of Hebbar’s art works, which explore the art of illustration found in literary journals in Kannada.
The exhibition primarily focuses on the importance of the cover page illustrations of books or magazines and consists a wide range of exhibits on the same. Jnanpith laureate Dr Chandrashekhar Kambara inaugurated the first-ever book fair and book donation drive.
From modern bestselling novels to academic publications, the book fair consists of 16 stalls with diverse collection of literature along with several other artefacts for sale. The students of School of Communication (SOC), Manipal University, are conducting a book donation and exchange drive.
The first day of the programme is only dedicated for book donation while students can exchange their old books and get new ones on the second and third days of the festival. Manipal University Press released five translation works at the inaugural ceremony --- ‘Mahamayi’ written by Chandrashekhar Kambara in Kannada and translated into Tulu by Katyayani Kunjibettu, ‘Just a Few Pages: Some Memories of Saraswati Rajwade’ written by Vaidehi and Rajwade in Kannada and translated to English by Janaki Srinivasa Murthy, ‘Swapna Saraswatha’ written in Kannada by Gopalakrishna Pai and translated into English by Sumathi Shenoy, M R Rakshith and Savita Sastri, ‘Bamonn’ a Kannada work by Norbert D’Souza translated into English by S M Pejathaya, and ‘Comasya Dhakka’ written by Shivarama Karantha written in Kannada and translated into Sanskrit by Kokkada Anantha Padmanabha Shastry.
A panel discussion on new directions in Kannada was also held. Scholars O L Nagabhushana Swamy, B A Viveka Rai, Mallepuram G Venkatesh and U Maheshwari were the panelists.
Swamy spoke about the birth of online literature in Kannada and how he does not relate to it as there is a co-existence of reality and imaginary reality in today’s world. Rai spoke about how translations are enabling the values of classical Kannada text to be disseminated around the world. Multimedia are not being used completely in the context of Kannada on the Internet. Venkatesh spoke translation of Sanskrit works into Kannada. Renowned translator Anjum Katyal spoke on ‘Indigenize or Universalize: Translating the Hyper Local Texts of Mahashwetha Devi’.