Ganeshkumar, India
The mouth painter
Ganesh Kumar is an artist who paints with his mouth, because 80 percentages of his upper and lower limbs are paralyzed due to poliomyelitis when he was one year old.
He is a scholarship holder of the international ‘Association for Mouth and Foot Painting Artists’ (AMFPA) based in Liechtenstein. His paintings were exhibited and published all over world. He got many recognitions included the national award of 'Outstanding Young Indian' from non-reserved category in 1993, and Indian Embassy in Qatar honored him in 2012. He was invited and flew to several countries as a painter and motivator. He is the founder of three deferent organizations, with his friends in various fields like Art, Education and Disability. He developed many type of accessories to survive his physical limitations for daily routine, including 5+1 multipurpose wheelchair.
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Hence his physical mobility is constrained in very limited, he himself learned and expertise the mouth painting and developed his own style in art with his indestructible determination. The details and the contemporary aesthetics and style in his paintings are widely appreciated and by detecting his abilities, AMFPA International selected him as a scholarship holder in 1988 and provided an immense support for his achievements. Later, his individual and group exhibitions were conducted all over the world and the audience amazed to see his outstanding mouth painting demonstrations. Besides the exhibitions, he took part in auctions shows and noted workshops with mainstream contemporary artists like MF Hussain, Usef arakkal and Paris Viswanathan etc. Both of his old realistic and recent abstract paintings had been collected by public and private art lovers from India and abroad.
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He is the chairperson and one of the founder of an art group called 'SARGAMANGALA' which was inaugurated by world renowned painter Mr. Bose Krishnachari, in 2019, for the artists who are expert in the traditional and contemporary painting, bronze casting, stone carving, and wood carving etc. From children to old masters from this village are gathering under one umbrella and open their outlets into many art forms. The group guides their creative potential to enrich the art and culture scenario of the villages. World famous sculptor Mr. Valsan Koorma Kolery visited there and the group inspired by him conducted an amazing art event introducing new art version of installation to the villagers.
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He is the founder of three deferent Organizations, with his friends in various fields like Art, Education and Disability. In 1996, he established a creative living center named ‘NIRAM’ for the enthusiastic artists to study and experiment their art forms in a liberal atmosphere. It introduces a new method of art awareness with creative activities instead of so-called system. Many of popular Art masters like Mrs. Kabita Mukhopadhyay, Pundit Ramesh Narayan etc. visited there and inspirited with their creative performance in ‘various 30 arts in 30 days campaign’ in 2013. . Hundreds of students found their outstanding artistic basement from here to achieve their higher stages.
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His contributions are not only in art but in the areas of social oriented issues also. His various bitter experiences determined him to form an outstanding organization named FLY WITHOUT WINGS in 2006, with his like minded friends to fight against the age old notions of the society. As the coordinator of FLY, his activities were revolutionary model in this field; especially in the disability sector. He directed the FLY to conduct get-together camps for physically challenged people and its well-designed and psycho-suggestive programs explored their hidden potential and it converted into creativity for their living sustainability and personal dignity. In each of those camps, they shared their unexplored love, friendliness, aspirations, creative and poetic thoughts, unrevealed personal and emotional experiences. Overall they mingled and resided overnight in extremely relaxed mind with the mainstream people, who dignified them equally and enjoyed with. Hundreds of challenged people were guided to the limelight self-proud and independence, and the news of this novel activities spread entire the state and it influenced many of the groups in this sector, with a new vision of human equality.
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He never had been under the school education, but completed his graduation in literature with his own effort. He used to write article on art and philosophy related topics and it were published in local magazines. As well the painter, he was invited to several countries to talk in seminars and workshops as a motivator.
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In his self-designed wheelchair, he travels a lot even through the adventure paths in the forest with his youth and energetic friends and fans. Moments to moments, he is enjoying the life with whatever at present!