Hyderabad filmmaker to build international art hub in Goa

HYDERABAD: A filmmaker from Hyderabad is setting up an International Fine Art Hub in Maharashtra. Krishna Rao, who has worked with Ram Gopal Varma as an executive producer for the movie ‘Coronavirus’, has started his dream project on 35 acres of land at Dodamarg. Through this, he wants to bring all independent artists under one umbrella to build a community for fine arts. “The hub will ensure maximum global exposure to participants and also create a marketplace where artistes can display and sell their work,” says Krishna.  

Krishna is the founder of Indie Birds, a crowdfunding platform for art initiatives including films, web series etc. “Indie Birds has been an exhilarating journey. We have helped ideas take concrete shapes by raising funds for them. Now, we are ready to foray into other avenues in which we think we can make a difference,” says the filmmaker. Till now the platform has funded projects like A Love Letter to Camp, Montage Song and Story Discussion.

The art hub will offer residency courses in various branches of art like pottery, painting and sculpting. With cottages set in the lush greenery of Goa, artistes there do not have to look far for inspiration. However, paucity of funds is proving to be a hurdle in the project’s completion. “Till now, the project has been funded by me. The land cost us Rs 40 crore. I am looking for investors who can make our dream project come true,” Krishna says.

The duration of each residency will be two-three weeks and will have 10 international artistes along with 10 Indian ones. It will be designed around a theme, topic or framework as a response to a particular social reality. 

— Kakoli Mukherjee
 kakoli_mukherjee@newindianexpress.com
 @KakoliMukherje2