Professor of Delhi University Nilakshi Suryanarayan was impressed by the monumental and decorative art at INRTU
Nilakshi Suryanarayan, Professor of Delhi University, attended a tour around INRTU "Ahead of Time". She got acquainted with monumental and decorative works and murals that INRTU is decorated with.
Nilakshi Suryanarayan is a graduate of Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. She is currently teaching Russian language and literature at Delhi University. In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded the professor with the Pushkin Medal for her special merits in the field of culture and art.
Dmitry Dorokhin, Head of INRTU Department of Monumental and Decorative Art and Design named after V.G. Smagin, gave an excursion around INRTU. He said that the walls of the university are decorated with over 100 art works created by the graduates of the department:
"In INRTU, monumental and decorative painting art has been adapted in a new format and continues to live on. All these compositions are designed and realized by our students".
The excursion started in the hall, where a series of stained glass windows "City on the Angara" was presented. Young artists embodied their view of temple domes, Baikal hummocks and other features of the region with a variety of lines and colors.
Then Nilakshi Suryanarayan observed monumental and decorative complexes made of natural stone and ceramic tiles. The subject matter of the works depends on where they are located. Thus, in the Physics Department building there is a whole set of artworks dedicated to quantum physics, mechanics, famous scientists Albert Einstein, Mikhail Lomonosov and Nikola Tesla.
A special series of art compositions is displayed near the classrooms of the Department of Physical Education and the gym. One of the works depicts an athlete running with the Olympic flame. Monumental stained glass windows are a bright accent for the university environment.
The professor was interested in the mural "Dedicated to the artist Nicholas Roerich". The project was realized in 2005 by Dmitry Dorokhin, the department's graduate, under Vitaly Smagin's supervision.
Dmitry Dorokhin told Nilakshi Suryanarayan about the meaning of the composition, which reflects a unique cultural concept realized through the philosophical doctrine of "Living Ethics", which was founded by Russian artist Nikolai Roerich and his wife, philosopher Elena Roerich. The composition is a story about the connection between the East and the West based on universal values.
Nilakshi Suryanarayan shared her impressions about the visit:
"We were introduced to Dmitry Vladimirovich Dorokhin by a common acquaintance, Russian scientist Pyotr Dmitrievich Abramov, who studies Roerich's work.
I liked the monumental and decorative compositions presented at INRTU. It is surprising that such large-scale projects are realized by students. I will remember the murals dedicated to Roerich and mosaics on the idea of physics most of all.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Dorokhin invited me to the conference "Peace through Culture. The Creative Path of N.K. Roerich", organized in honor of the 150th anniversary of the artist's birth. I plan to join the event in person or remotely".
At the end of the visit Dmitry Dorokhin presented Nilakshi Suryanarayan a book "Vitaly Smagin and His School", as well as a collection of articles from the international conference "Science, Culture and Art in the Light of the Ideas of "Living Ethics".
The tradition of displaying graduate students' artworks at the university was established many years ago by the founder of the department, National Artist of Russia Vitaly Smagin. The series of excursions "Ahead of Time" is initiated by INRTU administration to promote the image of the university as a cultural center. You can sign up for a tour here.
Photo by Arseny Chekmaryov
