My tryst with Ganjifa art began in 1995 during an exhibition and workshop organised by the Crafts Council of Karnataka and held in the galleries of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. It was here that I first met the late Kishor Gordhandas, an ardent collector of playing cards.  I was introduced to the art of playing the ganjifa game, the multiple intricacies and styles of Ganjifa cards and the most exquisite paintings by renowned artists for whom painting ganjifa cards was a passion, a livelihood and the only means to nurture a dying art form.  Beyond publishing an article in the Times of India, my curiosity and interest in the art form evolved through regular notes and details shared by Gordhandas. It opened a whole new world and led to some beautiful and meaningful projects that we were involved with.  More on this and much more about Ganjifa in time. For now I am sharing my first article on the subject that was published in Saturday Times of The Times of India in 1995.

GANJIFA WORKSHOP AND EXHIBITION , IGNCA SRC, MAY 19-22 , 2003

From 2002-2007 the Southern regional centre of IGNCA was located in a third floor rented space above ADA Rangamandira, J.C.Road, Bengaluru and right opposite Ravindra Kalakshetra.  This provided the required ambience, auditoria, gallery and facility for conducting various programmes.

In 2003, it was decided to  invite Ganjifa Ragupathi Bhat from Mysuru. When the responsibility of coordinating and managing the programme was handed over to yours truly, I was naturally most delighted. Having known Kishor Gordhandas since 1995, I contacted him for presenting a talk on the occasion. It was during our conversation that he suggested inviting all the other artists as well. This was instantly approved by the then Honorary Coordinator, Prof. P.V. Krishna Bhatta.

The Ganjifa workshop and exhibition was held in the premises of Chitra Gallery in Kannada Bhavan, which was spacious and well lit. Ganjifa artists from Sawantwadi, Raghurajpur (Orissa), Nirmal and Mysuru participated and taught the art form to nearly forty participants. The exhibition was a display of various prints of cards in the collection of Gordhandas who presented an informative talk on the inaugural day.

Posting the cover page of the IGNCA Newsletter, Vihangama (Vol III May-June 2003) and published  report of the  event.