Kokuyo Camlin mobilizes prominent artists to paint for Drought Relief

Mumbai: Keeping in line with its Eco-Friendly focus and doing its bit for the environment, Kokuyo Camlin, the leading manufacturer in stationery and art materials, invited over 60 prominent artists from across the country to unleash their creativity in a unique initiative titled `Camlin Draws For Drought’ at a function held at Rachana Sansad Academy of Fine Arts and Craft in Mumbai today.

Prominent professional artists that participated in this event included Vasudeo Kamath, Anant Bowlekar, Madhav Imartey, Prakash Bal Joshi, Ganesh Hire, Nana Saheb Yeole, Aniket Khupse, Arvind Hate, Shrikant Jadhav, Ratnadeep Adivarekar, Vipta Kapadia, Achyut Palav, John Douglas and Suhas Bahulkar to name a few.

With Drought taking place due to the shortage of rainfall in various parts of the country including Marathwada and Vidharba. The objective of this initiative, `Camlin Draws for Drought’ is to raise money for these affected drought areas by auctioning the work of these prominent artists and using the money to help in drought relief. The proceeds of the auction will be given to an NGO – Vandana Foundation. Reiterating the need to conserve water, the professional artists that participated in this day-long event painted their creativity using only dry mediums like pastels, pencils, charcoal and graphite.

Excited about the initiative, Mr. Shriram Dandekar, Vice Chairman and Executive Director, Kokuyo Camlin said, “As an eco-sensitive and responsible corporate Kokuyo Camlin has been always involved in various social initiatives which have been successful in achieving their objectives. We are glad to tie-up with Vandana Foundation and do our bit for addressing the prevailing drought situation in the state. With successful events like Project Ganga, Art for the cause of “Swachh Bharat” and also teaming up with the Indian Army ETF, we are optimistic of this being a success too.”

Commenting about the initiative, Mr. Saumitra Prasad, Chief Marketing Officer, Kokuyo Camlin said, “Kokuyo Camlin’s philosophy is to make meaningful contribution to the society and promote art for good causes. In the past Kokuyo Camlin has organized events like Art for the cause of “Swachh Bharat” and “Project Ganga” in the past where artist have painted for the cause of the nation. Our country is the land of farmers and we are always concerned with the plight of the farmers. The shortage in rainfall over last couple of monsoons has created a severe drought situation in many parts of the country, especially Marathwada and Vidarbha region in the state of Maharashtra. We would like to express our deep gratitude to Vandana foundation and Rachna Sansad for supporting us for this activity and especially the artists who donated their paintings for the cause.”

Speaking on the occasion, Shri AN Roy, Vandana Foundation Chairman and former Mumbai Police Commissioner and former DGP, Maharashtra said, “We are delighted to be associated with Kokuyo Camlin for the cause of Maharashtra farmers. We are confident that this event will raise awareness and empathy for the farmers of Maharashtra for whom Vandana Foundation has been created. Vandana Foundation will invest the fund generated for the welfare of the farmers and their families.”

Kokuyo Camlin lays huge importance on Green Initiative and has always consciously worked at being an eco-sensitive organization. It has put is weight behind initiatives like supporting the ETF of the Indian Army in planting over One Lakh saplings in Pithoragarh; to creating awareness of sensitizing people about saving rivers through its initiative `Camlin Paints For Ganga’; which had over 175 artists drawing on the theme `Ganga”.