Blooming shades and strokes

C hitra Santhe’, the 12th annual art festival organised by the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, was a roaring success.

The entire stretch of Kumara Krupa Road had colourful art works by talented artists displayed. It was a visual treat to all those who visited the ‘santhe’ as  imagination took various shapes and forms.The festival was a platform for about 1,500 artists from all over the country while the festival gave  art lovers a chance to buy the work they liked.

The premises of Chitrakala Parishath hosted works of four veteran artists — Sanjay Mehtha, Sisir Kumar Datta, Sanjal K Mitra and Sonali Maitra Paul. “We were specially invited by the Parishath to exhibit our art work here at the fest. This is a great event as it gives an exposure to the junior artists. These kind of festivals should be organised in Kolkata, Delhi and other cities too,” said Sanjay Mehtha, an Indian contemporary artist from Delhi. Another veteran in watercolour painting, Sajal K Mitra, said, “This is indeed a good experience for the newcomers. Nowhere have I found such energetic crowd for an art exhibition. But as this is a platform for both veteran and amateur artists, the art work can be overlooked sometimes. The public might not differentiate between good and bad art work.”

If the veterans exhibited their art work on one side, on the other, there were budding artists displaying their creations. “This is a great platform for budding artists. I am not looking at selling my art work, but it will add on to my excitement if I sell any of them. The appreciation and encouragement I get from the art lovers who visit here gives me a great satisfaction. I am a drawing teacher and I get my income from there. This platform gives me good experience and I am thankful for that,” said a young talented painter Karthik.

Another youngster Unusgazi, who had come all the way from West Bengal to participate in this event, said, “This is a great platform for  junior artists. I have brought with me hundred paintings of landscapes made from water colour and have displayed them here. I would like to come here every year as this is a huge stage for us to showcase our talent.”

“CKP’s art fest is a feast for the senses. It is astonishing to see nature’s beauty and human expressions captured through colours and tones in various styles and forms. People of all ages come here and lose themselves and enjoy the work of hundreds of artists,” said Sagar Rao, a visitor at the ‘santhe’.

The art fest that saw more than a lakh visitors was high on security. There were CCTVs installed and the cops did their rounds in and around the area.

“We have more visitors this year compared to last year. We also received endless applications from artists who were looking forward to take part in this ‘santhe’. But we canned around 400 applications as there is no enough place. And also, the professors of Chitrakala Parishath selected the artists to avoid plaguerism of art work and to give an opportunity to artists who have a real love for the art,” said DK Chowta, General Secretary of Chitrakala Parishath.