All for Art

For art to flourish, it needs artists and buyers, and a platform where the twain can meet. Kala Vinyas exhibition, currently underway in the city, is an example of such a collaboration between Bliss Art Gallery in Koregaon Park, Pune; city-based Aakruti Art Foundation; and Delhi-based NGO Little India Foundation. The group show of 13 artists will display paintings in various mediums like charcoal, watercolour, acrylic and oil, and sculptures, sketches and prints. 

PROMOTING SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS
Aakruti Art Foundation is a registered organisation, founded by Deepshikha Saxena and Avani, both artists. The foundation has been functional for the last eight  years, in the field of art training, art events, workshops and so on. The duo promote and train aspiring artists to adopt art not just a as a hobby, but as a passion and profession. Regular workshops and classes are organised at the art house in Viman Nagar, along with art talks, discussions etc. Apart from the training, the artists are given their space and time to paint and discover their abilities as an artist.  

“We have classes and workshops for children and adults who are aspiring to be artists. We have training modules based on their age and skill set. The non-professional or self-taught artist needs the right platform and a constant push of encouragement in order to believe in themselves and their art. This is what Kala Vinyas is going to do for them,” says Avani.

She further adds, “Many self-taught artists aren’t confident about how good they are, so in order to strengthen their self-belief, we give them access to platforms where they can showcase their work and where they are appreciated by art lovers. In Kala Vinyas, we have four such hobby artists who are incredibly good at their work. Deepshikha is a self-taught artist. She graduated in Human Resource and took up arts eight years ago. Her forte is mainly pencils, pastels, charcoal and oils. Ravindra Nakod is another such artist. who specialises in watercolours. Several of his works are a part of the collection at government offices, agro firms, farm houses and bungalows in Alibaug, Mumbai and Delhi. He sees his paintings expressing nature’s voice and finds watercolour the most fluid and expressive medium to work in.” 

BETTERMENT OF SOCIETY
Little India Foundation has been promoting upcoming artists and also works for the welfare of the underprivileged and needy. In the past, they have organised campaigns for girl child education and free food for the hungry. In order to use art for the betterment of society, Little India Foundation publishes a yearly art calendar featuring paintings of artists from all over India. 

Suman Aarya, who is the managing director of Little India Foundation, explains that through this calendar, a lot of artists have gained recognition. “Not every artist can afford to host an exhibition, so we came up with the concept of an art calendar. We began with collecting artwork from across the country and distributing it globally. Now, we have artwork from across the world. We print them on the annual calendar, along with the picture of the artist. We sell it to different people from different walks of life. So one calendar costs Rs 199 of which we make a profit of Rs 60. We use the profit to fund our social work. We run schools in Bihar, Haryana, so we send funds to them,” explains Aarya. 

Talking about how the collaboration happened, Aarya says, “We have a big group of artists from all over the country and everyone wants to have their exhibitions. But it’s not financially possible for us to help organise exhibitions. Therefore, we came up with a plan of doing something for the artists in their own region. That’s how this collaboration happened. Avani got in touch and she told me about the arrangement with Bliss Art Gallery.”

CULTIVATING CULTURE OF BUYING
No matter how much someone loves a piece of art, there’s always this uncertainty about investing in it. “Art lovers thoroughly appreciate art but very few buy,” says Avani, adding, “There are artists who overcharge, especially the ones who have a professional degree. Whereas self-taught artists don’t have market idea, so they end up under pricing their work.”

ST READER SERVICE
Kala Vinyas exhibition is on at Bliss Art Gallery, Vimal Kunj Society, Koregaon Park, till Dec 31, from 10 am to 6 pm