Sonipat, 31 Oct, 2025: “The artworks in the Constitution of India do not just trace our civilisational history, but depict our ability to adopt, amalgamate, and assimilate”, said Justice R.S. Chauhan while delivering the keynote address at the conference on the theme, “The Artistic Self-Representation of a Nation: Visual Symbolism and the Making of the Indian Constitution” on the 28th October 2025. The conference had been organized by the Constitution Museum and the Rights and Freedoms Academy and Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities of the O.P. Jindal Global University, “The essential core of the Indian civilisation is assimilation. We have assimilated different schools of thoughts and philosophies, different religions and cultures. The Indian Constitution reflects the core values of pluralism, of secularism and of liberal democracy. The artworks themselves are a fusion of different art traditions ranging from art of Ajanta to sculpture of Odisha, from Mughal paintings to Japanese wood block prints. Thus, illustrations in our Constitution visually supplement the Constitutional philosophy and mandate” he said. Recalling the potential of art in transmitting social messages and the context the constitutional art provides, Justice Chauhan explained the motivations and influences of the artists and the meanings of the artworks in the Constitution, “The Constitution is divided into 22 parts. Each part is illustrated with line drawings, both coloured and monochromatic. The horizontal format of the drawings is derived from the ancient palm leaf miniatures of Bengal and South India. The idea of having borders on each page is taken from the Mughal miniatures. The artists have also borrowed heavily from the art of Ajanta and Bagh Caves, from Chola art and the Oriya school of sculpture, and from Deccani miniatures and poster art of the 19th and 20th centuries. Hence, artistically, the Constitution speaks in languages of different art styles and traditions. Since the Constitution itself is an Ashtadhatu of various Constitutions of the World, it was apt that various artistic traditions should be utilised and fused in the text of the Constitution”.

Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, the Founding Vice Chancellor of O.P. Jindal Global University, pointed out that the Constitution Museum and the Rights and Freedoms Academy at O.P. Jindal Global University aims to make the constitutional art salient. He said, “The Constitution Museum and the Rights and Freedoms Academy is a living museum, for it brings to life the glorious moments of the making of the nation and its Constitution. The Museum not only commemorates the letter and spirit of the Constitution, but also its arts and aesthetics. It is a space where the symbolic meets the literal and the aesthetic meets the ethical. While the museum preserves the memories of the artists and calligraphers of the Constitution, conferences like this enliven those memories. Through them the constitutional art gets a voice—it speaks to the nation”.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Kathleen A. Modrowski, Dean of Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, stated, “In the Constitutional Museum, students of the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities created a mural titled “The Homeland”, which features numerous terracotta tiles of intricate relief work that celebrate the diverse identity of the nation embodied in traditional arts and crafts. In the earlier editions of the Constitution, the illustrations draw attention to the diverse traditions, cultures, and belief systems that are brought together in the Indian Constitution. In the same vein, the Homeland mural emphasizes national unity in the symbolic use of terracotta. Discussions among contemporary artists, historians and cultural critics further emphasized the belief that artistic self-representation offers citizens the opportunity to examine what the Constitution means to them”.

The Conference aimed to explore the meanings of the art in the Constitution, its potential role in the construction of social reality, and its exclusion from the institutionalized reading of the Constitution and pay tribute to the artists of the Constitution, led by Nandalal Bose and the calligraphy of Prem Behari Narain Raizada. The conference discussed questions like, is symbolic art, passive or generative? How does it interact with the constitutional text? Isn't art a constituent action? How could constitutional art improve the discovery of constitutional meanings and values? (Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with O.P. Jindal Global University and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR