Chitra Santhe 2023: Lively start

BENGALURU:  The streets around Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (CKP) on Sunday donned colours of art in every corner. Anywhere you looked, you’d only find talking heads buying and selling various kinds of artwork: jewellery, clothes, devotional paintings, portraits and abstract pieces. The price of the art works ranged between Rs 50 and Rs 2 lakh (approx).

Chitra Santhe 2023, the 20th rendition of the event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. “This year, the footfall has been 30-40 per cent higher than last year. Around 1,400 artists participated. We did not expect these many attendees,” shares KS Appajaiah, vice-president of CKP.

For artist Jyothi Sanjay, this was her first time as a participant at Chitra Santhe. “It is a big deal for me. Last year, I did register for the event but unfortunately, didn’t get through. I was apprehensive at first, but after hearing the kind words people had for my work, I would love to come back next year,” she says.

Agrees artist Naresh Lakshman Rao, who believes this festival always enlightens him with different perspectives. “This is my second time as a participant but I have always loved coming here. Such festivals provide a huge platform to artists to directly contact potential customers and sets the level for other artists,” says Rao.

Architect Deepthi CB, a regular attendee, says, “I am a huge lover of art and so attending this event was a no-brainer. This year it looks like they pulled a similar crowd they used to before the pandemic.”