Bengaluru: Over 100 artists came together at Venkatappa Art Gallery to celebrate the legacy of the space and to protest against the government's decision to privatise it. The artists, who wanted to pay tribute to Venkatappa did several paintings depicting the gallery. The event is a run-up to a protest being held at Town Hall on Sunday.
Artists, as well as people from different creative pursuits will come together holding black umbrellas as a mark of protest. The protest is part of an ongoing agitation against the Tourism Ministry's decision to privatise tourism spaces across Karnataka. Abhishek Poddar, founder of Tasveer Foundation, will invest around Rs 25 crore to renovate the gallery, which is in a state of utter neglect.
Two weeks ago, the VAG Forum, which held a day-long dharna at the gallery, floated a signature campaign that garnered over 400 signatures. Senior artists V.G. Andani, Chandranath Acharya, U. Bhaskar Rao, M.B. Patil and C. Chandrashekar expressed their concern about this adoption. Poets and writers like Chandrashekar Kambar, Siddalingaiah, Chandrashekara Patil and Dr. Vijaya supported artists' protest.
