My Experiences With Both Traditional and Self-Publishers

Partridge India Blog welcomes artist and published author, Amitabh Sengupta. He shares how his art and his book, Scroll Paintings of Bengal, have been inspired by his time living and working as an art teacher in Nigeria.

Sengupta decided to record his “theoretical search” for his art in a book. He tells us about his experiences with both traditional and self-publishing in India and the different results they have brought him.

My Experiences With Both Traditional and Self-Publishers

By Amitabh Sengupta

The genesis of self-publishing my book, Scroll Paintings of Bengal has certain events and outcomes that I would like to share.

Being a painter and teaching in universities in Nigeria between 1977 and 1988, my interest was naturally drawn to folk art, especially when I discovered the amazing range of African art forms. Seeing African Art on glossy plates of books or walking past the objects mounted on serene pedestals of European museums, did not have the same feeling.

With the gathering villagers, sound of drum and the fast-stepping dance of the Masquerades – art came alive in another context.