Makar Sankranti at Dashashwameth Ghat, Varanasi by Latika Katt
Bronze sculpture, Single-piece casting, 28 x 28 x 7 inches
The prolific sculptor, artist and teacher Latika Katt (1948–2025), who passed away in January 2025, was known for her striking sculptures in stone and metal. She started her career in the 1970s, her talent and her unconventional ideas drawing the attention of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was intrigued by the young woman proposing a series of experimental works made out of cow dung. Later, in the mid-90s, Katt’s papier-mâché-and-metal sculpture Sati, inspired by the death of Roop Kanwar in an alleged sati-related incident, became a very well-known work of art both in India and overseas. She taught at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as well as Jamia Millia Islamia, heading the Fine Arts department in the latter for many years.
Makar Sankranti at Dashashwameth Ghat, Varanasi was inspired by Katt’s father, who took her on a trip to Varanasi when she was only 12 years of age. He was a botanist and he encouraged her to seek out beauty and detail in every creature, every form. The sculpture is a vibrant and yet scientific (and therefore, with a certain scholarly ‘distance’) depiction of the annual snaan or bath taken by devotees in Varanasi on Makar Sankranti, the mid-January Hindu harvest festival. This work won Katt the Beijing Biennale Award in 2010—in its depiction of Varanasi, the city of death and regeneration, this sculpture teems with life and vitality.
The prolific sculptor, artist and teacher Latika Katt (1948–2025), who passed away in January 2025, was known for her striking sculptures in stone and metal. She started her career in the 1970s, her talent and her unconventional ideas drawing the attention of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was intrigued by the young woman proposing a series of experimental works made out of cow dung. Later, in the mid-90s, Katt’s papier-mâché-and-metal sculpture Sati, inspired by the death of Roop Kanwar in an alleged sati-related incident, became a very well-known work of art both in India and overseas. She taught at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) as well as Jamia Millia Islamia, heading the Fine Arts department in the latter for many years.
Makar Sankranti at Dashashwameth Ghat, Varanasi was inspired by Katt’s father, who took her on a trip to Varanasi when she was only 12 years of age. He was a botanist and he encouraged her to seek out beauty and detail in every creature, every form. The sculpture is a vibrant and yet scientific (and therefore, with a certain scholarly ‘distance’) depiction of the annual snaan or bath taken by devotees in Varanasi on Makar Sankranti, the mid-January Hindu harvest festival. This work won Katt the Beijing Biennale Award in 2010—in its depiction of Varanasi, the city of death and regeneration, this sculpture teems with life and vitality.
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