While the formation of the new state did give a lot of mileage to the Telangana community, the year also saw the artists coming together despite their differences.
The state bifurcation gave rise to a heightened interest in the revival and showcase of Telangana culture.
And the art@ Telangana forum soon followed. While the core members of the group that included senior artists like B. Narsing Rao and Laxman Aelay insisted that the work towards the forum had begun almost a decade ago, their efforts did find backing from the newly formed government this year.
What’s really significant about the forum is the fact that artists as a community, throughout history, have achieved more socially than artists individually.
“We all come from the batches of ’60s. And back then artists used to fight more than come together,” said Narsing Rao at the year-end event that brought 148 artists to take a stand against violence in relation to the recent Peshawar attacks.
However, the more heartening trend that was seen this year has been the insistence of artists from the city to not divide the community on regions.
Senior artist Chippa Sudhakar has always hesitated to be associated with the regions, “There is no such feeling of Andhra and Telangana. I am an artist and I believe that regionalism should not sink into art,” he had told us.
Meanwhile, Ramana Reddy, the artist who designed Telangana’s first Republic Day tableau and who also runs the Telangana artist forum, had said, “In the future, the forum will support everyone irrespective of the regions.”
And when Vizag was devastated by the Hudhud Cyclone, the Indian Red artist collective brought a show that included artists donating their works irrespective of their regional differences.
