Ranchi: As many as 55 painters from the state and country took part in a three-day camp here blending creativity with concern to reflect on environmental degradation and conservation using their blank canvases.The ‘All India Spring Art Camp’, part of the ‘Prakriti 2026’ progamme organised by the state forest, environment and climate change department, concluded on Sunday.The camp marked the observation of World Sparrow Day on Friday, and International Day of Forests and World Water Day on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.Artists from various parts of Jharkhand and country, including Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, among others, painted to attract the attention of visitors and inspire them to work on nature and environment conservation.Prominent artists, including Ajay Kumar Ghoshal, Jaiprakash Chauhan, Kamal Kothari, Shridhar, Subrata Choudhary and C R Hembram, took part in the camp.Mukta Gupta, a painter from Jamshedpur, painted birds, forests and serene environment. “Our lives have become very hectic, and we hardly get time to look at greenery. The environment is being degraded du to various factors, and a lot of animals and birds are becoming extinct. I use my painting as a medium to make people aware about these issues and look at their surroundings amid their busy schedule,” Gupta added.Debojyoti Sakar, a painter from Dhanbad, said his artworks portray how people should live in a healthy and clean environment. Anup Giri, a Kolkata-based artist, said his painting depicted tribal people amid forests and how they always protect greenery.Principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) and head of forest force, Sanjeev Kumar, emphasised the importance of painting in creating awareness among people. “If we look at our ancient history, even before language and script were invented, cave painting was used to disseminate information. Taking inspiration from that, the forest department is also organising the camp since 2007 to inspire people.”Ranchi divisional forest officer Shrikant Verma felicitated all artists and nature lovers present at the event and appealed to the audience to dedicate themselves to the protection of forests and wildlife.
