Artists leave a vibrant mark on Bengaluru's generous canvas

Bengaluru: The 22nd edition of Bengaluru’s iconic annual art fair, Chitra Santhe, mesmerised over five lakh visitors at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (KCP) on Sunday.

From traditional Gond and Pattachitra art to contemporary creations, the fair was a treasure trove of abstract, acrylic, and oil paintings, along with watercolours, wood art, knife art, and regional specialties.

This year, the event brought together over 1,500 artists from 22 states, spanning Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Haryana.

The entrance to KCP featured an eye-catching installation of a girl’s face made from cardboard sheets. Banners honouring trailblazers like Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Savitribai Phule, Fatima Sheikh, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, and others who championed girls’ rights were prominently displayed.

This year’s Chitra Santhe focused on raising awareness about the abuse of the girl child. Stalls lined areas near Windsor Manor Hotel, Sivananda Circle, and parts of Crescent Road.

The fair saw a mix of seasoned and first-time artists eager to showcase and sell their creations.

Anup Biswas, a Kolkata-based watercolour artist and a six-time participant, shared, “I like Bengaluru because people here don’t just see art — they buy it.”

Meiyappan, a knife artist from Salem, Tamil Nadu, recounted making Rs 1.8 lakh in a single day last year. “I paint landscapes using oil paints and a knife instead of a brush,” he explained.

Unique exhibits included futuristic art, tribal art, wall art made from pressed leaves and seeds, and live cartoonists on Kumara Krupa Road sketching visitor caricatures.

Inclusive facilities 

Artists with disabilities and senior citizens were allotted separate stalls at Seva Dal Grounds. All 189 senior citizen applications were approved, though some expressed concerns about limited space.

Artists like Thenmozhi and Durga from Madurai, both speech and hearing impaired, credited art as their primary means of expression, which led to opportunities to sell handmade bags.

Kerala-based Ganesh Kumar, a mouth painter affected by polio, praised the fair's accessibility, noting Bengaluru’s disability-friendly infrastructure.

Smooth management 

The event ran seamlessly with 200 traffic police and 250 to 300 law and order personnel ensuring smooth operations. Feeder buses connected visitors from the  Majestic, Malleswaram, and Vidhana Soudha metro stations to Sivananda Circle.

Manjula Shetty, a Basaveshwaranagar resident and regular visitor for two decades, brought her granddaughter in a trolley, remarking on the manageable crowds.

Highest-valued artwork

The most expensive artwork, Lord Sri Venkateshwara with Us by Jeevan V Sakthivel, was priced at Rs 7 lakh. This 8 ftx6 ft oil painting depicts the Chitirai Thiruvizha at Madurai’s Kallazhagar Promenade, and took a year to complete.