Posted on 18 August 2026:
Beyond Sight, Beyond Colour: Artist Manikana Upadhyay’s Tribute to the Tricolour at Lalit Kala Akademi’s Har Ghar Tiranga Art Workshop, Kolkata
On the morning of 13th August 2026, as Kolkata stirred awake to the spirit of the nation’s independence, the Regional Centre of Lalit Kala Akademi, Kolkata opened its doors to a gathering that was as much about art as it was about identity, memory and belonging.
Held under the aegis of the “Har Ghar Tiranga” initiative — “Dedicated to the Spirit of Vande Mataram” — the Tiranga Rally and Art Workshop brought together artists, art lovers, and citizens for a celebration that stretched far beyond the canvas.
A Painting That Sees Beyond Colour
Artist Manikana Upadhyay participated in the workshop and portrayed a work that reimagines patriotism through a lens rarely explored — the lens of a person who cannot see colour at all. Her canvas portrays a man wearing dark glasses, a walking stick in one hand for support, and in the other, a cluster of vibrant tiranga balloons.
“To a man who can’t see, it’s not about visual colours like saffron, white or green,” Manikana explains. “Instead, it is a powerful feeling of freedom, unity, pride and a shared heartbeat of the nation. It is experienced through touch, sound and emotion.”
It is a quietly radical reframing — one that strips the tricolour of its pigment and returns it to what it has always truly represented: a feeling, a pulse, a collective heartbeat that unites a billion citizens regardless of how they perceive the world around them.
One Flag, One Feeling –For Every Citizen
Manikana’s artistic philosophy extends this idea further, insisting that the flag’s meaning transcends physical sight altogether.
“For everyone, seeing or not seeing, the flag treats all citizens the same under one shared identity,” she says.
“The inner meaning — courage, peace, growth, and constant forward movement — is felt as human values rather than light and colour.”
In this single line lies the emotional core of her artwork — a reminder that the essence of the tricolour was never confined to its hues. Saffron’s courage, white’s peace, and green’s growth are not merely visual codes but lived values, ones that reach every citizen through emotion, through unity, through shared history — irrespective of ability or circumstance.
Adding another layer of historical reverence to her composition, Manikana has also woven in portraits of freedom fighters, anchoring her contemporary narrative to the sacrifices of the past.
“Here I have painted some of the freedom fighters also,” she notes — a quiet homage that bridges the struggle for independence with its everyday, ongoing celebration on the streets of modern India.
Manikana Upadhyay’s presence at the Har Ghar Tiranga workshop is the latest milestone in a growing artistic journey. Since her debut at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, she has featured in more than twenty group exhibitions, steadily building a body of work that engages with human emotion, identity, and social consciousness. Her artistic path has taken her from her first solo exhibition in Agartala to her recently held second solo showcase, marking a significant milestone in her evolving career.
She most recently exhibited her work at the Jogen Chowdhury Centre for Arts, Kolkata, further cementing her place among the city’s promising contemporary voices.
Art as an Instrument of National Unity
The Lalit Kala Akademi Regional Centre, Kolkata’s Tiranga Rally and Art Workshop, organised under the guidance of Shri Rajeev Kumar, Secretary i/c, LKA New Delhi and Dr. Rahas Kumar Mohanty, Regional Secretary i/c, LKARC Kolkata), stands as a testament to how art can carry the spirit of the tricolour into deeply personal and inclusive territory.
Patriotism is not merely something seen — it is something felt, in the courage of the past, the pride of the present, and the shared heartbeat of a nation moving forward together.
Har Ghar Tiranga | 9–17 August 2026 | Lalit Kala Akademi Regional Centre | Kolkata
Images: Manikana Upadhyay
