Kala Bhavan

Kala Bhavana

Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan
Established	1919
Director	R. Siva Kumar
Location	Shantiniketan
Affiliations	Visva-Bharati University
Website	Kala Bhavan

Kala Bhavana (Institute of Fine Arts) is a noted institution of education and research in visual arts, founded in 1919, it is the fine arts faculty of the Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan, established by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Upon its establishment in 1919, Tagore invited noted painter Nandalal Bose, and disciple of Abanindranath Tagore, the founder of Bengal school of art movement, to become first principal of the institution. In the coming years stalwarts like Benode Behari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij became associated with college, and in time gave a new direction not just to the institution but also to the modern Indian painting.

The college also has an art museum exhibiting sculptures, frescoes and murals and a library of art books. Present head of the institution is art historian and curator R. Siva Kumar, who has been in the art history faculty since 1981.

In 2011, to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, Rabindra Chitravali was released, the four-volume set covered masters' painting oeuvre consisting of 1,600 paintings, from Rabindra Bhavan (another institution of the university) and Kala Bhavan collection, along with 200 paintings from other institutions across India.

Bachelors and master's degree in Fine arts Diploma and Advanced Diploma in Painting, Sculpture, Mural, Graphic Art (Print Making), Design (Textile/Ceramic) and History of Art.

Nandalal Bose, Ram Kinker Baij, A. K. Haldar,Somnath Hore, K. G. Subramanyan, Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, R. Siva Kumar, Jogen Chowdhury and Surendranath Kar.