The city and its art aficionados are finding new and exciting ways to promote art and its activities. One such interesting activity is taking place this Sunday at the Cubbon Park organised by the decade-old Artmantram Foundation. Headed by Jija Harisingh, Raji Narayan and a host of passionate artists and prominent art lovers from the city.
The foundation has been consistently doing activities to promote art. This open air and open to all art event will have an eclectic mix of eminent artists exhibiting their works alongside artists who will be painting caricatures, portraits and also a small art workshop by artist NS Kumbhar.
The whole concept of exhibiting in parks of the Garden City is a fresh take on promoting art. These kind of events have been prevalent across the globe and for a city like Bengaluru that is home to huge parks, this comes as a welcome breakaway from the four walled gallery concept.
ArtMantram is a non-profit organisation actively involved in promoting contemporary Indian art. With a vision that is simple yet profound, ArtMantram aims to touch the lives of as many people as possible through the medium of art.
Offering a platform to encourage art and addressing burning social issues, it seeks to bring a tiny change in the thinking and attitude of a nation that has dramatically developed in every other aspect, since Independence. Thus, making art a pivotal part of everyone's everyday life.
On a philanthropic note, ArtManram’s projects and initiatives have played a key role in empowering the abandoned girl child and providing educational support to the underprivileged and disabled children in Karnataka, Faridabad and Arunachal Pradesh.
The event is a special occasion where you can see 12 artists paint live, and also get to enquire about their work to build your collection. While poignant and eclectic artworks will add sheen to the greenery of the park, the motive of the event is to raise awareness and make sure art is accessible to everyone.
Speaking about the activity, Jija Harisingh, former top cop and the face of Artmantram says “Artmantram, since its inception in 1999 has been doing a lot of activities to promote art and culture. We started such an event in 2004 by placing stalls and exhibiting at the MG Road promenade, where art was accessible to the public.
After this, Chitra Santhe came into existence. A lot of artists who had no exposure to collectors managed to sell, and we discovered and encouraged new collectors. The Art in the Park event is cut out from the same cloth. I visited the Art Park Bengaluru event held by SG Vasudevji and that inspired us to do this event.”
The Artmantram’s activities have time and again been supported by prominent personalities and advisors like Shri Chiranjeev Singh, Lakshminarayan, Sudhakar rao and eminent artists like SG Vasudev. Actress Priyanka Upendra is supporting this event. Being associated with the foundation for over five years, at a time when the art market and trends are dwindling, the city needs a fresh approach to promoting art and Cubbon Park. It offers a unique opportunity for the public to interact with artists live, understand and collect art.
The Art in the Park initiative is being held at Cubbon Park from 11 am to 1 pm on June 26.
The writer is an art curator and art expert.
