“All the aspects of the mind must be harmonized in order to achieve true inner peace.”
IAA Exhibition 2024
Abhay Kumar
Poet, Editor, Translator, Artist, Deputy Director General ICCR
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Shoonyata
16”x20”Acrylic on Canvas
Abhay Kumar (pen name Abhay K.) is an esteemed Indian poet, diplomat, editor, translator, anthologist, and artist, currently serving as the Deputy Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in New Delhi. His influential poetry collection, Earth Anthem, has been translated into over 150 languages and was presented at the United Nations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.
Abhay's significant contributions to contemporary South Asian poetry earned him the SAARC Literary Award, and he was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2013. He also received the Asia-Pacific Excellence Award in 2014 and has been recognized as a "World Poet" by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Vijay Seshadri. Notably, his poem "The Partitioned Land" was included in the curriculum at Cornell University in Fall 2021, and his book-length poem Monsoon has been selected for study by Harvard University’s assistant professor Sarah Dimick as part of a project on climate and literature.
In addition to his literary achievements, Abhay's artistic works explore geometric forms and the evolution of planetary consciousness. He has exhibited his paintings in solo exhibitions across the globe, including cities like St. Petersburg, Paris, New Delhi, Brasília, and Antananarivo. Through his multifaceted talents, Abhay Kumar continues to bridge art and diplomacy, fostering cultural dialogue on a global scale.
Abhay's works in his series Shoonya are visualizations of emptiness. Forms are visible when one looks at them closely but as one moves away from them, forms disappear and what remains is emptiness, a true validation of the crux of the Heart Sutra: ‘Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.’