“No dream is too big, and no dreamer too small” adage seems to be quite apt for our founder, Divyendu Anand.
Coming from a middle class family in Bokaro steel city, a cosmopolitan and industrial town in Jharkhand and close to West Bengal, India, high aspirations, openness to people, and interest in art were but natural for him. However, even as a child, beauty in form and texture inspired Divyendu. His parents recall him making very beautiful drawings, paintings and sculptures. Whether it was on the floor or the back of the notebook did not matter. An idealist, dreaming and curious mind, supported by family and friends, created in Divyendu a quest for peace, happiness, justice and beauty. A quest that still seems to propel him. And Studio Renaissance is perhaps a manifestation of the same quest.
As the young Divyendu’s mind developed, more esoteric questions regarding the purpose of one’s life, truth about one’s existence, the various beliefs and faiths, reason for social injustice, etc. started to arise. Regular school work seemed to be more mundane and uninteresting before these deeper interests and ideas. Perhaps the kind of schooling which emphasized more on rote learning, the three R’s and the rat-race were also responsible for the disenchantment with regular school work .
Growing up with the dreamy thoughts of altruism, idealism and beauty, Divyendu joined National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT, Delhi) after high school. The journey at NIFT did provide him with avenues to develop techniques, to network, to know more about the world of art, the commercial utility of art, but it also created a psychic clash within him. The expectation of altruistic, idealistic and sublimity of expressions in art was not to be found here. Unable to find others who shared similar ideals and dreams, he decided to become stronger within to continue his quest.
Divyendu landed with a good product design job with Michael Aram, an award-winning, internationally-renowned American artist who has dedicated his career to craft-based design. The job gave him the freedom to design, to learn and explore, but dissatisfaction remained because the mind drifted towards more abstract ideas. A stint at executive management gave new insight, opportunities, and career paths. Yet, the thirst to explore art in more sublime forms remained. Questions about the purpose of art itself, rampant commercialization and politicization of the art industry only resulted in further delusion for the idealist part of Divyendu. But self-motivation, support from well-wishers, and transcendental experiences, slowly helped him get clarity and this resulted in the crystallization of the idea of Studio Renaissance.
With Studio Renaissance, Divyendu hopes to give a platform to artists and artisans to create and spread the idea of art which is not bound by any limitations except that it aims to invoke in the artist as well as the spectator, feelings of sublime joy. In a nutshell through Studio Renaissance Divyendu hopes to place a brick in the upcoming castle of “Art for service and blessedness”.