Guwahati: Bringing together two distinct artistic traditions, Assamese poetry and contemporary French visual art have found a common canvas in Xil-Phul Aru Anyanyo Kabita (Stone-Flowers and Other Poems), a collaborative collection by Assamese poet Kushal Dutta and Paris-based French visual artist Frédérique Gourdon.
The book was released in Guwahati on Saturday, marking a creative collaboration between literature and visual expression.
Published by Guwahati-based Matribhasha Prakashan, the newly established publishing house, the collection features 34 poems by Dutta, accompanied by 21 original black-and-white artworks by Gourdon.
The publication has received official recognition from ADAGP, the Paris-based organisation that holds the copyright to Gourdon’s artworks. The cover has been designed by noted Assamese artist Pradip Nath.
Gourdon is an established name in contemporary European visual art. Born in Paris in 1971, she currently lives in the Île-de-France region. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in visual arts from the Terre et Feu art school in 2009. Alongside her artistic practice, she is also engaged in teaching art to students and adults at a cultural centre.
Her artistic journey and distinctive creative approach were recently featured in La quête du vivant, an episode of TV5 Monde’s documentary series Terra Artistica, which explored the multidimensional aspects of her work.
Gourdon has received several prestigious international recognitions for her contributions to contemporary art. These include the City Award at the Art Cité fair in 2021, the Taylor Prize and Critique.org Award in 2024 for her installation Déployer les points de vue at the internationally renowned Réalités Nouvelles abstract art exhibition, and the Golden Person Award from Le Geste d’Or, a French organisation working in visual arts, architecture and heritage conservation, in 2025.
Her works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions across France and other countries, including Italy, China, Ukraine, Romania and Bulgaria, earning her recognition in international art circles.
Meanwhile, Kushal Dutta is an established voice in contemporary Assamese poetry. He has published eight poetry collections, including his selected poems volume Alap Absurd (2021). Besides his own literary works, Dutta has compiled and edited several significant publications, including Ajit Barua Kabita Samagra, Sananta Tanti Kabita Samagra and Kirti Kamal, a felicitation volume honouring litterateur Kirti Kamal Bhuyan.
His literary contributions have earned him several awards and honours. These include the Munin Barkotoki Award, presented by the Munin Barkotoki Memorial Trust for his collection Electronic Charai in 2003; the first Kathamalita Sahitya Sanman, instituted by the literary magazine Kathamalita, in 2011; the Srijan Sahitya Samman from the Srijan Sahitya Sammelan of West Bengal in 2013; and the first Pradip Kumar Barua Award, presented by the Asam Kobi Samaj in 2022.
Representing Assamese literature, Dutta has participated in several national and international literary events. His poems have also found a place in the academic curriculum of the postgraduate Hindi department at Cotton University, the postgraduate Assamese department at North Lakhimpur College, an autonomous institution under Dibrugarh University, and the undergraduate Assamese department at Cotton University.
His works have been translated into English and several Indian regional languages, as well as a number of major foreign languages. Selected poems by Dutta have also been brought to a wider audience through recitations by several performers, including American actor Steve Cantor and Assamese reciter Abani Bora.
A journalist by profession, Dutta is currently the Chief Editor of Matribhasha, an institution engaged in text editing and publishing.
The collaboration between Dutta and Gourdon is expected to offer readers and art enthusiasts in Assam a distinctive aesthetic experience, bringing together the written word and visual interpretation in a single volume.
With its combination of Assamese poetry and contemporary French artwork, Xil-Phul Aru Anyanyo Kabita seeks to create a dialogue between two artistic expressions across geographical and cultural boundaries.