ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT : Shaurya Kumar

A native of Delhi India where he studied printmaking and painting at the Delhi College of Art, Shaurya Kumar graduated with his MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2007. Kumar is currently an Assistant Professor at Bowling Green State University to develop a new program to integrate 2D traditional methods with digital art.

Since 2001, Kumar has been involved in numerous prestigious research projects, like “The Paintings of India” (a series of 26 documentary films on the painting tradition of India) and Handmade in India (a 3 volume encyclopedia on the handicraft traditions of India). Kumar has also worked on digital restorations of 6th century Buddhist mural paintings from the caves of Ajanta in Central India. During his graduate studies Kumar was a recipient of the Terry Burnette Scholarship for Arts and Arts & Cultural Alliance Interdisciplinary Award.

His current work deals with the analysis of the methods of digital archiving cultural and historical artifacts. Collaborating with scientists and engineers, his work questions how we are experiencing the world that is becoming global, but is mediated through the computer screen.

His latest exhibition "The Lost Museum: The Fate of World's Greatest Lost Treasures" is an exhibition of works of art and culture that were destroyed during various wars. The exhibit begins with a 2400 B.C.E. Frieze from Mesopotamia which was lost (and possibly destroyed) from the Baghdad Museum during the Iraq war in 2003. The exhibition includes images of the destroyed 5th century B.C.E. sculptures from Pediment of Parthenon; 3rd century A.C.E. Monolithic Stelae from Eritrea destroyed by Ethiopian Army in 2001; 7th century Buddhist mural painting from Bamiyan destroyed by Taliban; 9th century mural from Nalanda, India destroyed during Turkish invasion in 1193 A.C.E; 17th century Tiepolo destroyed during the WWII and 18th century Amber room which still remains a mystery since 1945. The exhibition concludes with a monumental size print of 12 x 18 foot reproduction of a tapestry by Joan Miro that was destroyed in September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The image depicted here is from this project.

His work has been showcased in numerous national and international exhibitions including “Masterworks: Visualizations of Binary Degradation” at Digital Artist’s Space in Troy, NY; “2007 North American Print Biennial”; “14th Seoul Space International Print Biennial” in 2006;  “2006 Pacific States Print Biennial” ; “VI & VII Bharat Bhavan International Print Biennial” in 2004 & 2006 and “Nokia Asia-Pacific 2000” among many others.