CAIRO: Maulana-Azad Center of Indian culture held two exhibitions for paintings and stamps of the great Indian poet, Tagore, from all over the world. They were exhibited in the museum of the modern Egyptian art in Al-Bab hall on July 5. Egyptian Minister of Culture, Imad Abou Ghazi, and Indian Ambassador in Cairo, Ar. Swamenathan, attended the opening of the exhibition. The two exhibitions are held by the Indian embassy celebrations for the 150-birth anniversary of Tagore (1861-1941), the first one to win a noble prize in Asia. Celebrations included an exhibition of stamps of Tagore and contain 20 pieces in a collection in memorial from 20 different countries, all about Tagore. Some of the items date back to the previous century. The other exhibition presents Tagore's work, called ‘Alcanta Works' and contains 13 of Tagore's paintings that visualize short stories, songs and poems. All the paintings are made by the tradition style of embroidery, known by its local name ‘Alcanta' and still in practice until this day by rural women in West Bengal and Bangladesh in India. Bengali women used Alcanta art to make blankets. Tagore was fascinated by traditional art, hence his interest in ‘Alcanta.' Miss Shamlo Dodega, who worked for more than 25 years to revive Alcanta art by establishing NGOs, came up with the idea of this exhibition.
