Art

                                  A young tree lover at Neralu. Pic credit: Suchi Govindarajan   NERALU, the crowd-funded 2-day Urban Tree Festival concluded at Cubbon Park on Sunday, the 9th of February 2014. Citizens of all ages participated enthusiastically in tree walks, and appreciated the specially curated movies and the display of Rumale Chennabasavaiah’s paintings of Bengaluru’s trees. Visitors listened to a range of talks by noted naturalists, ornithologists, and Urban Ecology experts. Children learnt about trees and their importance through a range of experiential activities such as…

Come 8 and 9 February, Bangalore will play host to Neralu, a citizen-led Urban Tree Festival. The first of its kind in the city, and probably in the country, Neralu will bring together ecologists, artists, researchers, technologists, homemakers, professionals, adults and children in dialogue, to celebrate the spirit of Bangalore, its rich natural heritage and its trees. The event promises to have something in store for everybody and will feature a multitude of visual and experiential activities; walks, workshops, story-telling sessions, art exhibitions, movie screenings, children's activities - there’s plenty to choose from. You can have a look at the event schedule here. …

Till last year, I didn’t know who Paul Fernandes was, though I had seen his artwork all over Bangalore, occasionally colourfully covering up a bland restaurant wall or even an old space. I loved his work, without realising it was his work. Then, on a day walking during lunchtime, I stepped into his shop at Richard’s Park and connected all the humourous comic chronicles of 70s Bangalore I had seen strewn around in Bangalore. (And fell in love with a bag, but that’s another story). I stayed, my eyes crinkling with laughter at each of the framed posters.  As I left, I…

In September last year (2013), I quite fortuitously ran into a group of excited Bangaloreans who had begun discussing doing something around the trees of the city. This is where we began conversations about a possible tree festival for Bangalore. Anush, Arpana, Sangeetha, Uma, Mallik, Jahnavi and I met at Airlines hotel one evening. Janhavi Pai, a researcher friend had told me that these folks were interested in Bangalore’s trees and their stories and were discussing various ways to expand and share their experience. It almost seemed like a call and a dream come true. For over 8 years now,…

Tucked away in the rushed, hurried environment of the City Railway Station is a most unexpected oasis...an art gallery. Indian Railways have, indeed, been promoting art of late. The underground passage that connects up the various platforms in the City Station have been embellished with photographs and art, themed on the railways, and travel. The art gallery is one more praiseworthy initiative in this connection. So folks, if you find yourself with time to spare, do visit the Rail Art Gallery ...it's between Platforms 5 and 6...and enjoy a little art while you travel! The art gallery at City Railway…

  S G Vasudev is an interdisciplinary artist – an artist whose works are deeply influenced by other arts – music, dance, poetry, weaving, mythology and more. The release of the artist’s coffee table book “Vriksha – The art and times of SG Vasudev,” held on 20 July 2013, couldn’t have been better timed. The garden city is also playing host to a month-long exhibition of paintings of one of the country’s greatest interdisciplinary artists - Rabindranath Tagore. The austere occasion started with the launch of Vasudev’s book by the high priestess of theatre in Bangalore, Arundhati Nag. On the…

At Puttenahalli Lake, we know the value of rainwater and its harvesting. After all, the only water that the lake receives is from rain.  Now here's a good opportunity for artists to help in promoting RWH and win some good prize money too!"Raindrops Geneva Award" is a competition organised by the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance (IRHA) to highlight the importance of this vital resource - rainwater - and its management. Participants from all over the world send in their entries, and after a vote by the jury, three prizes are given. The first competition, organised in 2007, awarded the poster that best…

It's the most awaited year of the day for art enthusiasts in Bangalore, a day our friends and we look forward to every year and plan ahead for. And just as we have done for four of the last five years, this year, too, we were at the Chitra Santhe exhibition organized by and held at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath on Sunday, January 27th. Chitra Santhe 2013, Pic: Rudreshwar Sen Most of our friends go for this event with their spouses; art being something that's going to stare back at you every day of your life, it's important to have…

PNLIT volunteers at Puttenahalli Lake were clearing the area around the water body and they stumbled on this big stone. It took the might of 4-5 men to move it after digging it out of the ground. Moving the big stone, Aug 2012 (Pic: Nupur Jain)The shape of the stone resembles the shape of the PNLIT logo, so we decided to keep the stone. After a good scrub, see how Shana Gokul (artist, lives in the lake neighbourhood) has transformed it. PNLIT is now painted on stone! PNLIT Stone, Nov 2012 (Pic: Nupur Jain)Stone art has been around for thousands of years, almost as long…

Coinciding with Rajyotsava day this year, The Handmade Collective –III aims to bring back into focus the local crafts, foods and lesser known side of Karnataka. A side where the traditional and the modern stand side by side, the Cantonment and the City-facing sides co-exist in Bangalore, but more importantly aims in bringing back the sense of community that Bangalore was so famous for. Integrating Hase chitra with tribal arts from Mexico From delicate Kasuti Embroidery of North Karnataka on trendy clutch purses to Bright Channapatna Lacquerware on modern household products like kitchen towel holders and bedside lamps to Khadi…