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Announcing this at a press conference held in the City recently, Franck Barthelemy, an international art consultant, said the festival will have prominent artists from the City and across the country showcasing their work, discussing and educating the younger, more newer artists on the various art forms. “It’s an opportunity for the young artists to exhibit their work to a wider audience. There will also be a sculpture bar, the first-of-its-kind where different kinds of sculptures will be displayed,” informed Franck.
Jointly organised by ‘The Collection’, UB City with ‘Sublime Galleria’ and ‘Art Chutney’, the festival will have an art exhibition and a series of events including a children’s art contest, an art workshop, speaker sessions, film screening and will culminate with an art and luxury auction. The proceeds of the festival will be donated to HCG Foundation, which provides free treatment to cancer patients who cannot afford it.
Talking about why she chose to join hands for the festival, Uzma Irfan, founder of Sublime Galleria, said, “The City does not have a dedicated festival for fine arts and we hope this festival will address that. The event this year will be much bigger and vibrant with many more artists and galleries participating to make it a success. It will provide a lot of exposure to the new breed of artists,” she said.
Among the artists who will participate at the festival are Murali Cheeroth, Yusuf Arakkal, S G Vasudev, Arpana Caur from Delhi, Krsna Mehta and John Devaraj... to mention a few.
Yusuf Arakkal will present ‘The story of a car’ which he has been working on for a couple of months. Murali Cheeroth will showcase a short film and two paintings during the festival. Murali says he chose to capture City-related issues in his paintings, “I’ve juxtaposed urbanisation with the several elements involved in it. The City provides a common setting for the absurd and the intellectuals to come together,” explained Murali.
He said he was showcasing a short film titled, ‘An old story’ inspired by German poetry which is written on the cruelty inflicted on the people in Germany during the Nazi regime.
Talking about the initiative, B S Ajaikumar, trustee of the HCG Foundation, said, “we focus more on the treatment for women and children who are struck with cancer. It’s expensive and most often people find it tough to source funds for treatment. We do just that,” he said.
‘Art Bengaluru’ showcases various art forms including ‘wall art’ (fine art, paintings, illustration and photographs) and ‘stand-alone art’ (sculpture, installations and product design). This is the second edition of the festival. Entry is free.