Posted on 26 September 2025:
BOHEMIAN, THE ART COLLECTIVE AT BHU, PRESENTS A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP ON MONOPRINT TECHNIQUE—FIRST HELD ON SEPTEMBER 28 AND CONTINUING ON OCTOBER 5, 2025—EXPLORING THE BEAUTY OF ONE-OF-A-KIND PRINTS.
Monoprint Workshop at BHU: A Celebration of Unique Impressions
In the heart of Varanasi, talented young artist Niharika Awhona Barsaat leads a vibrant monoprint workshop at BHU, inviting art lovers to discover the magic of texture, color and creative freedom—assisted by Lakshya Sharma and Md Fariaz Emran, students of the prestigious BHU, Varanasi.
Held in front of the Faculty of Arts, BHU, on September 28 and continuing on October 5, Bohemian’s Monoprint Workshop invites young talented artists to explore the beauty of one-of-a-kind prints—where each stroke, texture and layer becomes a singular expression that can never be repeated.
Niharika Awhona Barsaat, describes the process as a dance between spontaneity and control. In monoprinting, the artist paints or inks a smooth surface—like glass or metal—and presses paper onto it to create a single, unrepeatable image. Brushstrokes, textures, and layers of color add depth, making each print a unique expression.
“Monoprinting is like holding a fleeting moment in your palm—easy to begin, yet full of wonder. On a smooth surface, each stroke flows with grace, whether in ink, oil or water-based pigments . What rises is never repeated. It’s a dance of chance and color, where every print is a story told only once.” — Niharika Awhona Barsaat
The monoprint workshop at BHU saw the spirited participation of young and talented artists, each bringing their own spark to the creative process. Among them were Ramnayan, Aman Gangwar, Kirti Verma, Mayank Sharan, Himanshi Tomar, Neha Gupta, S Athmaja, Piyush Kumar, Prativa Hembram, Sakshi Agarwal, Sudipta Swarnakar, Raja Kumar, Divya Prabha Singh, Priyanshu, Pragya Tiwari, Shiva Nandan Yadav, Nidhi Kumari and Nisha Kashyap.
Their enthusiasm and perspectives added vibrant energy to the workshop, making it a memorable celebration of learning and artistic exploration.
“Mono printing began with early European techniques like woodcut and etching, but it was Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione who first gave it life—his dramatic play of light and shadow laid the path for a form that later drew Impressionists like Edgar Degas and Camille Pissarro to capture fleeting moods and movement in prints that could never be repeated,” says a student.
Modernist masters like Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso gave monoprinting a bold new voice with color and line, while today’s artists like Tracey Emin and David Hockney continue to reinvent it—blending tradition with digital flair to craft striking, one-of-a-kind works.
“Unlike other printmaking techniques such as etching or woodcut, which can produce multiple identical prints, a monoprint is unique because the image can never be replicated in exactly the same way again. For this reason, it is often referred to as “the painterly print”–Fariaz Emran.
“Each print holds its own breath, and the ghost that follows whispers a softer story. Prof. Suresh K. Nair Sir guided us with grace, and in the workshop, art became joy.” — Niharika Awhona Barsaat added.
From Castiglione’s dramatic brushwork in 17th-century Italy to the vibrant courtyard of BHU today, monoprinting continues to inspire.
In this special workshop, students explore its timeless charm through hands-on practice—blending traditional techniques with modern digital tools, and discovering how each impression becomes a story of its own.
