EkChitra Opens Expansive Hyderabad Gallery for Multidisciplinary Art
The gallery also houses a permanent printmaking studio, conceived as a dedicated facility to promote and strengthen engagement with printmaking as an artistic medium.
Hyderabad: EkChitra Art Gallery is opening the doors to its expansive new address in Hyderabad, adding a significant new physical space to the city’s growing visual arts ecosystem.
Art connoisseur and collector Anju Poddar, popular writer, director Deva Katta and Rao Bahadur fame director Venkatesh Maha, Art director & Chief Principal Temple Architect of Yadagiri Gutta Anand Sai, senior artists BA Reddy, Shankar Pamarthy and Hyderabad art fraternity attended the launch.
Founded by artist and curator Annapurna Madipadiga, the new EkChitrais designed with the scale, flexibility and infrastructure to accommodate large exhibitions, multiple artistic disciplines and a wider programme of cultural activity.
A key feature of the new gallery is its flexible spatial design, allowing it to move beyond conventional exhibition formats and accommodate painting, sculpture, textiles, ceramics, installations, photography, mixed media, performances and interdisciplinary projects. The larger footprint makes it possible to conceive exhibitions at a scale that responds to the artwork rather than requiring the artwork to adapt to limitations of space. EkChitra will work with both emerging and established artists across traditional practices and contemporary forms.
The gallery also houses a permanent printmaking studio, conceived as a dedicated facility to promote and strengthen engagement with printmaking as an artistic medium. The studio will enable EkChitra to develop programmes around printmaking, encourage artists to engage with the medium and create opportunities for learning, experimentation and exchange.
The physical expansion reflects EkChitra’s growth from a curatorial platform into a permanent cultural space capable of supporting exhibitions as well as artist interactions, workshops, performances, screenings, educational programmes and public conversations.
Venkatesh Maha congratulated founder Annapurna on creating ‘a beautiful habitat for artistes’. He said, “During my travels across Europe, I would come across such interactive art spaces and loved spending time there, even attending a workshop whenever possible. I am glad that EkChitra Art Gallery has launched this expansive multidisciplinary space. I look forward to being an active part of the activities planned here in the future.”
Deva Katta, an art lover by hobby, said, “I hope EkChitra Art Gallery develops into a landmark for art and creativity, and goes on to build a strong community of artists and art lovers.”
Annapurna Madipadiga, Founder, EkChitra Art Gallery shared her journey from curating shows to opening the new space, “EkChitra has grown organically through exhibitions, collaborations, conversations and relationships with artists and audiences. As the vision expanded, we felt the need for a space that could accommodate not only larger exhibitions but also conversations, workshops, performances, educational programmes and new forms of engagement with art.”
The new gallery is envisioned as a larger, adaptable art space. Ekchitra is planned as a vibrant space where artist talks and curatorial conversations can sit alongside exhibitions; workshops and educational programmes can introduce younger and first-time audiences to art; performances and screenings can extend programming beyond the visual arts; and collaborations can bring artists, designers, architects, researchers, collectors and cultural practitioners into the same space. Residencies and knowledge-sharing programmes are also being explored for the future. With its flexible exhibition spaces, permanent printmaking studio, multidisciplinary programming and ambitious heritage-led initiatives, the new EkChitra gives Hyderabad something more than another address for viewing art. It creates infrastructure for artists to make and present work at greater scale, for different disciplines to meet, and for audiences to experience art through exhibitions, learning, participation and engagement — positioning the new gallery as an important addition to the city’s evolving cultural landscape.
MSN Realty and speciality restaurant Anaganaga Telugu Culinary Tales partnered with EkChitra Art Gallery in supporting the launch of its new space. Opening Exhibition: Transition
The new EkChitra opens with Transition: A Continuity to Change — An Ode to Identities in Flux, an exhibition bringing together young artists from across India working in textiles, sculpture, painting, ceramics and printmaking.
Appropriately for a gallery itself in transition, the exhibition examines how artistic languages change while retaining connections with cultural memory and inherited traditions. The participating artists use different materials and practices to negotiate questions of identity, tradition, transformation and contemporary life.
The exhibition also signals the possibilities offered by the new gallery: different mediums can coexist within a single curatorial framework, allowing conversations between practices historically separated into categories such as fine art, craft and decorative art.