Meera Mukherjee

Meera Mukherjee (1923 – 1998)

Meera Mukherjee was trained as a painter at the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata and later at the Delhi Polytechnic. Her works, however, took a different turn when she received a scholarship to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1953, whereby she moved to making sculptures that too at a time when sculpture was male domain! 

On her return to India in 1957, she began teaching in schools. The turn in her career came when she was appointed by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1961 to document the Dhokra casting technique of the tribals in central India, particularly Bastar, extending till Nepal. This gave Mukherjee an opportunity to not only study and document the traditional methods, but also to introduce innovations in the casting technique. The technique naturally was seen in her execution of sculpture, and she would go on to create some of the most unique sculptures on a monumental scale. 

Another aspect that is little know about Meera Mukherjee is her work made using kantha, a traditional form of embroidery practiced largely in West Bengal, Bihar and some parts of Odisha. Her works here are playful yet capture the essence of life of women. She also experimented in carpet weaving. 

Meera Mukherjee was a trail blazer, and her works are found in museums in India and across the globe.