Kolkata Centre for Creativity presents ANWAR CHITRAKAR: IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE PATA, a solo exhibition by contemporary Patua and Kalighat-style painter Anwar Chitrakar.

Born in 1980 in Naya village, Pingla, Paschim Medinipur, Anwar Chitrakar comes from a family of traditional Patua artists and learnt the practice from his father, Amar Chitrakar. While rooted in Bengal's long tradition of pata painting, his work brings traditional visual language into conversation with the concerns and experiences of the present.

Influenced by the 19th-century Kalighat tradition, Anwar's paintings retain its bold outlines, simplified forms, expressive figures and direct compositions. Alongside stories drawn from mythology and religious traditions, however, his work addresses social concerns, everyday life, human relationships and contemporary events.

Working with natural pigments and traditional techniques, while also adapting his practice to materials including canvas and different types of paper, Anwar demonstrates how a living folk tradition can respond to a changing world without losing its distinctive visual identity.

The exhibition offers an opportunity to encounter the pata not simply as a medium for storytelling, but as a continuing artistic language through which contemporary realities can be observed, interpreted and communicated.