11 October 2005
Celebrate The Diwali Festival At City Gallery Wellington
Shanti Devi at Crafts Fair, Patialia, Punjab, 2003
City Gallery Wellington is proud to announce that Indian painter Shanti Devi will undertake a wall painting in the
Michael Hirschfeld Gallery as part of Wellington's Diwali Festival of Lights celebrations.
Devi will work on the long wall of the Michael Hirschfeld Gallery, covering it with a Madhubani painting. Madhubani
painting comes from the Madhubani district in the northern Indian state of Bihar. Madhubani painting has traditionally
been practised by Hindu women, who would paint the walls and floors of their houses before major festivals or family
celebrations.
Madhubani paintings are brightly coloured and beautifully detailed, and are often based on a religious subject. In her
painting at the Michael Hirschfeld Gallery, Devi will tell the story of the god Rama's defeat of Ravana, the King of the
Demons, and victorious return to his kingdom of Ayodhya after an exile of fourteen years.
Shanti Devi will be working on this painting between 15 - 23 October. The Gallery is open while Devi is working, and
visitors are welcome to watch the painting process and ask questions. Devi will also be holding workshops with local
school students to teach them about Madhubani painting.
ENDS