Bengali artist Benode Behari Mukherjee told filmmaker Satyajit Ray, his former student at Santiniketan, when he was working on The Inner Eye, a documentary on the artist: “If you wish to look for my spirit, the basic essence of all that my life stands for, you will find it in the khoai. You could say, I am it.”
The khoai, geological formation often in the shape of tiny hills, found in Birbhum, Bardhaman and Bankura districts of West Bengal, held deep significance for the artist. He saw a reflection of himself in it and he painted the khoai in great detail.
His khoai handscrolls are on show at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery, along with other works that showcase his artistic essence. The khoai handscrolls, on the first floor of the gallery, have been displayed in long stretches, which allow viewers to walk along observing it just as if they were walking along the physical landscape. Painted in tempera on Nepalese paper in the 1930s, the work in sepia, burnt red, black and cream is an indication of his connection to his surroundings. Benode Behari taught at Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan and spent most of his creative life there.
