Prafulla Mohanti. ANANDA

About

The works on display were all painted in London, where Mohanti moved in the early 1960s from rural India. Although qualified as an architect in Mumbai, his opportunities in London were limited, and he faced several forms of discrimination. His degree was not recognised by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and he was paid less than English architects doing the same work. Suffering from the racist, anti-immigrant rhetoric of the 1970s and struggling with the grey landscape, he initially found life in the UK isolating. Withdrawing from architecture, he found his escape in painting, which brought to his new life the colours and joys of home.