Mayo to Government College of Art

DS Kapoor

Lahore was the cultural centre of Punjab, its heart and soul, and I wish it had come to India. A hub of commercial activities, it had always welcomed new ideas. Once dominated by the Hindu and Sikh communities, it became primarily a Muslim city after 1947.

Partition dealt a severe blow to lives and livelihoods, and for many, it also meant an end of their association with several prestigious institutions in Lahore. One of these was the Mayo School of Art, established in 1875. The institute owes its origin to a contribution raised in honour of Lord Mayo, the British Viceroy who was killed in 1872. The purpose of the school was to impart “instruction in design, especially for the development and improvement of the indigenous arts and crafts of Punjab”.

Its palace-like building was adjacent to the Central Museum near Anarkali Bazaar. John Lockwood Kipling was the founder principal. Children of the elite were sent here for their basic education and training in fine arts.

Among the members of the teaching faculty were luminaries such as BC Sanyal, Dhanraj Bhagat, Munshi Miran Baksh and Abdur Rahman Chughtai. The school had excellent crafts teachers, while Hazi Saheb, Sunder Singh and Sadhu Singh were the eminent craftsmen. After the foundation course, students opted for painting, clay modelling, wood work, lacquer turning, jewellery designing and copper beating. They were also taught the elements of decorative design and Urdu calligraphy. Sumarendra Nath Gupta became the first Indian principal in 1930. This institution played a very useful part in the aesthetic, industrial and educational activities of the province.

During Partition, a large number of students and teachers found shelter in the refugee camps in Punjab and near Delhi. SL Parasher, the vice-principal of Mayo before Partition, took up the responsibility as camp commandant for the Baldev Nagar refugee camp in Ambala. He came in contact with a few staff members of Mayo and with their support decided to look for the rest. So, through public announcements in refugee camps, he succeeded in assembling most of the Mayo colleagues. He prepared a plan to set up a school of arts on the lines of Mayo and forwarded the proposal to Prime Minister Nehru, endorsed by Gopi Chand Bhargava, the first Chief Minister of Punjab.

Administrative approval was accorded for starting a school of art in Shimla. After persistent persuasion by Satish Gujral, Parasher and a few others, it was finally established on August 16, 1951. The very fact that it was put under the administrative control of the Director of Industries and Industrial Training showed that its status was not more than that of a training centre.

Parasher was appointed the founder principal and given a free hand. The school started functioning in a fairly large cottage just below Rashtrapati Niwas (now IIAS). Students and teachers were so closely associated with each other that it gave the feel of a ‘kala gharana’.

When Chandigarh came up, the school was shifted there in 1962. Situated in the heart of the city, Government College of Art was designed as a composite cultural complex by Le Corbusier. The building is surrounded by vast lawns alongside Leisure Valley against the beautiful backdrop of Shivalik Hills. Dr MS Randhawa, the first Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh, laid the foundation of art in the city. Dr Mulk Raj Anand stated that Chandigarh was very fortunate to have an art school, and the culture of the city will never die. I got associated with the institute as a student, faculty member and principal.

As I look back, I can only salute the vast number of people who ensured that Mayo School’s legacy was not wasted, and art got the recognition and place it deserved.