Bengaluru may lose out on national art show over delay in venue approval

Union Culture Ministry yet to okay NGMA as host for event starting Jan 15

Bengaluru is likely to lose out on hosting the National Exhibition of Art, due to a delay by the Union Culture Ministry in approving the NGMA here as the venue.

With just a day left to announce final dates, there is no communication by the Culture Ministry to host the show at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA). The NGMA comes under the administrative purview of the ministry.

The National Lalita Kala Akademi (NLKA) had approached the NGMA in October 2016 to lend its galleries to host the event. The NGMA too had expressed its desire to collaborate with the Akademi to host the NEA, scheduled from January 15 to February 28.

NGMA has backed out, saying it has not received any response from the Ministry of Culture, sources said. As a result, the NLKA is planning to relocate the event to some
other state.

Chi Su Krishna Shetty, administrator, NLKA, told DH, “We have no option, but choose some other state as venue for the exhibition.”

The artists’ fraternity has expressed disappointment over the developments. 

Manjunath Kalledevar, convener of the Karnataka Artists’ Forum, said it will be a huge loss if the exhibition moves out.

The Forum plans to write to Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and request the minister to ensure that the event takes place here. The last NEA was held in Bengaluru 15 years ago.

Art critic and artist Pa Sa Kumar said NEA is a platform for aspiring and renowned artists to showcase their works.

“A national exhibition is an entirely different spectrum than the regular exhibitions that keep happening. After such a long time, a national-level exhibition was proposed and we hear that it may not happen. This is sad.”