In a recent interview with an English news channel in India, Anish Kapoor, famous worldwide for his massive installation art work opined, "Art must be inclusive and not confined to galleries".
The Chitra Santhe, hosted by Bangalore’s reputed art school, the Chitra Kala Parishath (CKP) has been bringing art, artists and art lovers to the streets around Kumarakrupa road, on the last Sunday every January. Here are some scenes from this year’s edition which apparently attracted over a thousand participants from across the country and three lakh visitors. (This is according to Sandhya A, an art history faculty member and part of the Santhe organizing team at CKP).
In the third dimension. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
Making their pick. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
Mangalorean Shanta Achar advocates for the wild cat. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
On a betel nut tray – Nagaraj Bevur of Basavangudi, Government Tool Room employee. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
One of CKP’s four gallery exhibitions of 100 artists. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
Photography is software professional Akash’s hobby. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
Rajasthan inspires her ceramic dolls – Asha Suresh from Bengaluru. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
The second generation of teachers and sculptors. Pic: Pushpa Achanta.
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"Art is for sharing. Others may derive ideas and inspiration from my pieces" felt Kumaravel, a painter from Chennai who has been a professional figurative artist for 25 years. He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai, India’s oldest art school.
Exhibitors included students, amateurs and award winners such as A. Shankar, a leather puppet artist from Dharmavaram in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh. He is from a family of puppeteers who are certified by the government of India and has displayed at the Santhe previously.
Prasanna Kumar B. Shirol, the president and state co-ordinator of the Lysosomal Storage Disorder Support Society and his wife Sharada said about their enthusiastic young daughter who has this rare disease, "We are at the Santhe primarily because she is interested in art".
It was heartening to see such enthusiasm in many more people at the Santhe on 30th January 2011.
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