All Dressed UP

An upcoming exhibition in Goa will shine a light on the late costume designer and painter Bhanu Athaiya’s oeuvre

- Suhani Singh

When renowned costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, the first Indian to win an Academy Award, passed away on October 15, 2020 at the age of 91, her daughter, Radhika, decided it was time to open the doors to the warehouse in Colaba where Athaiya had preserved objects from eight decades of an eventful career. They included not just sketchbooks and costumes but utensils from her family home in Kolhapur, illustrations from her stint at Eve’s Weekly magazine, the Usha Deshmukh gold medal she won as a student of the JJ School of Art in then Bombay and oil and watercolour paintings. Many of these treasures will be on display at Bharat Through the Lens of Bhanu Athaiya, an exhibition that runs from December 6 to 17 at Aguad, Candolim in Goa. Organised by art auction house Prinseps, which acquired Athaiya’s estate, it looks to offer an insight into a woman who donned many hats, and each with aplomb.