Imagine walking into a room filled with canvases showcasing decades of children’s illustrations. And something surprising happens – you are six years old again, eyes wide, talking to animals, nurturing a seed to a plant, standing under a sky filled with wondrous little things. That’s exactly what BECOMING, the recent exhibition at the India International Centre, curated by the brilliant Richa Jha of Pickle Yolk Books, managed to do.
KATHA was proud to be part of BECOMING, an exhibition chronicling 130 years of children’s book illustrations in India. Held from April 23 to May 6, the exhibition brought together publishers, artists, and educators to reflect on the history of visual storytelling of Indian children’s literature.
As one of India’s pioneering publishers in multilingual, socially relevant children’s literature, KATHA’s participation stood out for its vibrant and thought-provoking visual narratives. KATHA’s contribution featured illustrations from five of its much-loved titles — Princess with the Longest Hair, Clouds and Waves, Razia and her Pink Elephant, Big Little Man, and Glass Tree.
Not just pretty pictures on a wall, these were pieces of heart, imagination, and the courage that defines childhood. Each illustration invited viewers young, old, and curious to pause and remember what it feels like to dream without limits.
The Princess with Longest Hair
How the Earth was Made
Razia and the Pink Elephant
There was an almost electric reverence in the room when the legendary illustrator Atanu Roy entered. He’s illustrated more than a hundred books for children – works that were special precisely because he saw children as his equals in mind, allowing them to explore broader themes and widen their horizon, this was the man in their midst. Though frail, he moved through the space like a quiet giant, surrounded by admirers who lit up in his presence. There he was — the person whose pictures that had once spoken to their younger selves.
The exhibition itself unfolded like a book beginning with some of the earliest illustrations in Indian publishing, even one by a Tagore and moving thematically through the self, the world, nature, community, and so much more. Children’s illustrations often get tucked away, dismissed as cute or colorful. But BECOMING told a story where the images we grow up with never really leave us. And KATHA was proud to stand there surrounded by the storytellers of the past and present.
A-225, Shivalik,
Near Gol Chakkar,
Malviya Nagar,
New Delhi – 110017
© Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved