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Revision as of 23:33, 28 December 2024 by Cnagappa (talk | contribs) (Initial draft)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Akumal Ramachander (July 10, 1949, Bombay, India - December 26, 2024, Bangalore, India) was an Indian teacher, art promoter and author who gained international recognition after discovering and promoting American abstract expressionist painter Harold Shapinsky. He was also recognized by the Polish government for his services in promoting Polish culture in India.
Early Life and Education
Ramachander was born in Bombay, India, to a Telugu speaking family.The family moved to Calcutta where he spent some of his early childhood. His father was in the Indian Army and the family had been stationed in various places around India, enabling him to gain proficiency in several Indian languages. The family eventually settled in Bangalore when Ramachander was 16. He attended National College in Bangalore where he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in 1968. Changing disciplines he received a Master’s degree from the Bangalore Central College in 1971.
Career
He taught English at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore where he attained the position of assistant professor. Devoting much of his spare time to promoting art, he also developed a keen interest in arthouse cinema. He was exposed to Polish cinema during a film festival in 1979. He was particularly fascinated by the films of Polish director Krzysztof Zanussi.
It all started here in 1979… I even brought out a four-page supplement on films of Polish director K Zanussi.
— Akumal Ramachander, On receiving his award from the Polish government, 2009
Zanussi noticed the supplement and invited him to the 1980 Gdansk film festival. He was captivated by Polish culture, which he felt was vibrant and resembled Indian traditions in that respect.
Harold Shapinsky Discovery and Recognition
On a visit to the United States in the fall of 1984, to lecture on Indian politics and cinema, he stopped in Chicago to visit a friend, the poet A K Ramanujan. He attended a party hosted by the department of South Asia studies at the University of Chicago. There he met an American graduate student, David Shapinsky, whom he met again by chance the next day at the University of Chicago library. David spoke of his father, Harold Shapinsky, a hitherto unknown abstract expressionist painter from New York, and showed him some slides of his father’s paintings. Ramachander immediately fell in love with the paintings and resolved to promote them.
Ramachander had the paintings professionally photographed at his expense in Harold Shapinsky’s apartment in New York. He contacted about 30 galleries in Manhattan, but no one there was willing to look at the slides. Taking his chances in London, he arrived unannounced at the lobby of the Tate Gallery, and managed to persuade Ronald Alley of the Tate Gallery to review the slides. Alley was impressed with Shapinsky’s work and provided Ramachander with the crucial referral he needed, an introduction to the director of the Mayor Gallery, James Mayor.
Mayor reviewed the slides and agreed to give Shapinsky the first solo exhibition of his 40 year career. The exhibition was held at the Mayor Gallery between May 21 and June 22, 1985. The exhibition was huge success. According to the Washington Post, the Mayor Gallery normally attracted 20 to 30 visitors a day, but the Shapinsky exhibition drew in 50 an hour, with paintings selling for $25,000 on average.
The British Channel 4 Television produced a documentary about the serendipitous Shapinsky-Ramachander story, The Painter and the Pest, which was directed by Greg Lanning and narrated by Salman Rushdie. It was released in the UK by Channel 4 on June 2, 1985.
Little Pig
In 1992 he published Little Pig, a children’s book illustrated by Lithuanian artist Stasys Eidrigevicius, about the moral and ethical issues of animal farming.
Later Life and Death
After quitting his teaching job, he remained active in art circles in Bangalore, and continued to promote artists and authors full-time. He was also active in promoting Polish culture. He was decorated by the Polish government in 2009 for promoting polish culture in India.
Akumal is the real cultural ambassador of Poland to India. Single handily with his dedication and hard work he has put up Polish cultural presence on Indian map. - Krystof Zanussi
Akumal Ramachander was suffering from age-related ailments and passed away in Bangalore on December 26, 2024, aged 75. His body was donated to a hospital according to the wishes of his family and friends.
References
- A Wanderer in the Perfect City, LAWRENCE WESCHLER, Shapinsky's Karma (1985), New York Times Archive
- Honorary diploma awarded to music composer Akumal Ramachander, THE TIMES OF INDIA, September 29, 2009
- LAWRENCE WESCHLER, ...Zanussi eventually saw the supplement, and had Akumal invited to the 1980 Gdansk film festival, at the height of the Solidarity period..., New York Times Archive
- Exhibitions: Harold Shapinsky, The Mayor Gallery
- [ https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1985/07/28/drawing-a-crowd/1105e992-54ad-418d-bcfd-0a72388dd4ab/ Drawing a Crowd], THE WASHING POST ARCHIVES, July 27, 1985
- Little Pig, OPEN LIBRARY ISBN 10 0670843504
- [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/08/books/childrens-books-pigs-be-not-proud.html CHILDREN'S BOOKS; Pigs, Be Not Proud], NEW YORK TIMES
- Art promoter Akumal Ramachander passes away in Bengaluru, THE HINDU, December 26, 2024