Brushes and paints were passed around in a flurry. It was nearing late afternoon and the air was filled with a heavy sultriness as a group of youngsters were busy painting the walls of the Department of Fine Arts, Andhra University.
The walls at the entrance soon turned into a creative canvas – a kaleidoscope of colours, thoughts and themes. Inside the department were images, paintings, 3D paper art, design logos, caricatures and an infectious energy oozing out of every corner. The two-day visual art fest ‘Artistique – 18’ held at the Fine Arts Department was in every way a celebration of art and creativity.
The students were divided in four groups for activities like logo designing, caricature, mural and graffiti making and photography. Every event was an effort to provide the students a scope to express themselves, away from the prescribed academic syllabus. The effortless creativity and ideas that flowed brought out many an inherent talent of the students.
Mural art
The mural contest highlighted themes like antique, nation, earth and sound & noise. The ‘antique’ theme had images of gramophone and vintage car set against ancient coins. The students took care to lend details to every piece of art. “The idea was to recreate the concept of a bygone era, remnants of which still exists today,” said Debashruti Aich, a participant.
The coins had names of the each student artist involved in the artwork to give it a personal touch.
The mural of ‘earth’ had a curiously looking cube-shaped earth.
“The cube is a symbolic element for a game of play. It is like the Rubik’s cube which man fiddles with. Today, the situation of earth is similar where it is twisted and played with and in the process burning it down,” said K Pooja, one of the members of the team. Similarly, multiple elements were depicted in the other two themes of murals.
Photography
The photography section brought out the concepts of tranquillity, retro, chiaroscuro and portraiture.
The students made an effort to step out of their comfort zones to try something unique and bring out the concepts with a series of images in some strong compositions. Some of the entries played with the light and shade concept. One of the art events tested the participants impromptu creativity through a series of art materials provided to them on the spot.
“The main idea of the fest was to hone their skills in planning, organising, leadership, team building and communication skills apart from their creative skills,” said D Simhachalam, head of Department of AU Fine Arts. The art fest was coordinated by Nidhi Sekhon, guest faculty of AU Fine Arts Department.