Recollections of a journey For a Beautiful World
Dhiraj Choudhury


“I do not want to die in this wonderful world, I’d like to live among people” – thought from a poet. No one can stop time or touch it; it flows like a river and does not come back, I become older and older, crossing 81. Last year when I was 80, I celebrated through an exhibition of my creations. One was in India, New Delhi at Art Konsult Gallery by Mr. Siddhartha Tagore. The next was in Boston, USA, Asian Art Gallery by S. Krishnan, celebrated through a publication, short film and exhibition. For the maximum of my time I was involved with teaching art, spending almost 40 years with young students as well as with my own art work – exhibiting around the globe. I experienced different people, places, artists, art galleries, museums and architecture.

“I do not want to die in this wonderful world, I’d like to live among people” – thought from a poet.

No one can stop time or touch it; it flows like a river and does not come back, I become older and older, crossing 81. Last year when I was 80, I celebrated through an exhibition of my creations. One was in India, New Delhi at Art Konsult Gallery by Mr. Siddhartha Tagore. The next was in Boston, USA, Asian Art Gallery by S. Krishnan, celebrated through a publication, short film and exhibition.


For the maximum of my time I was involved with teaching art, spending almost 40 years with young students as well as with my own art work – exhibiting around the globe. I experienced different people, places, artists, art galleries, museums and architecture.

In 2017 I have been invited by Monika Horst, for the celebration ‘Dhiraj 81’ which was from a different perspective at an art exhibition in a local gallery in Rigesberg, a small town in Germany. The exhibited works will be painted in a temporary studio in their residence in front of a beautiful garden. Besides different kinds of flowers, foliage, rocks, fountains and light there are colourful umbrellas, hanging flags, imprinted Buddhist script from India, sculptures of different kinds, puppets from Rajasthan, wood relief from Indonesia, big coloured glass pots, sitting places and so on. In my studio one can see and enjoy; scattered paint tubes, jars, brushes, canvasses of different sizes, paper and sketch books.


This is a remarkable reception for an artist, a dream, a world of creation, to take a fresh breath beneath a deep blue sky with changing clouds and a vast forest in the background. Three sides of the studio are covered by transparent glass, so one is close to nature, including the sounds of the local birds.

Though life is not always this romantic, there are other sides also; a hard reality, a darker side with painful events and experiences. But this is a time of celebration, with a birthday cake, candles and music. This is a time to enjoy German beer, the advantages of Whatsapp calls and see friends and young artists all over the world, especially my old students.

In Kolkata, my residence and studio became a dark life for me, intolerable. America and Europe gave me a healing touch, which is why I am here most of the time, meeting people, making paintings sometimes exhibiting, visiting churches and museums. Florida, Mexico, St Albans and Paris became places of peace for me.

In Kolkata, my residence and studio became a dark life for me, intolerable. America and Europe gave me a healing touch, which is why I am here most of the time, meeting people, making paintings sometimes exhibiting, visiting churches and museums. Florida, Mexico, St Albans and Paris became places of peace for me.