Art appreciation is one of the most enjoyable, rewarding and immensely satisfying experiences of life. It is a kind pleasure that sets off new ways of looking at ourselves and our environment. Art appreciation gradually makes us realize that deep inside we are all artists – not necessarily by doing art but by sharing the experiences of art – by looking at it, with a little more care and excitement.

Yet, we still don’t find ourselves equipped enough to enjoy art thoroughly. We think that we need some inputs towards that and many of us often tend to think, wrongly though, that art is “not my cup of tea”. This is not because we are ‘inherently incapable’ of appreciating art or we are ‘not born with a competence’ for it. It is simply because we are not exposed enough to various kinds of art examples from all over the globe and secondly we do not have the idea about the wide and excellent range of creative possibilities art can offer to both the artists and the viewers.

So, art appreciation is more than teaching how to look at art; it is a journey into this infinite world of creative expressions through different mediums, at different places, in different social milieus and by different minds.

 
Soumik Nandy Majumdar