<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru's art fraternity has decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the renovated Venkatappa Art Gallery, set to take place at 4 pm on Thursday.</p>.<p>The formal invitation sent out by the gallery and the government drew strong criticism from senior artists across the state for not having mentioned any artists.</p>.<p>"The invitation is only a long list of government officials. The Venkatappa Art Gallery belongs to the artists; it is a shame that not a single artist is mentioned,” said renowned artist SG Vasudev, who decided against attending the ceremony.</p>.<p>The fraternity is also irked that no senior artists were invited to be a part of the inauguration.</p>.Boost for TDR in Bengaluru, usage curbs eased.<p>"In fact, many of us did not receive the invitation. It was only after multiple artists started criticising the inauguration on social media that we received a formal invite on Tuesday evening,” said Sheela Gowda, member of the Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) Forum Working Committee.</p>.<p>After the fraternity's decision to boycott the event, a revised invitation mentioning some senior artists and extending an invitation to artists across the state was released around 7.30 pm on Wednesday. However, the VAG Forum has decided to stick to the boycott plan.</p>.<p><strong>'Gallery Pravesha'</strong></p>.<p>To accommodate the artists who will be boycotting the inauguration, the VAG Forum will organise an independent gathering at 11.30 am on Friday. The informal forum includes over 500 artists. The group is calling it a ‘Gallery Pravesha’ and has invited artists from across the state.</p>.<p>"We did not want to protest the inauguration. Since we are not attending the official event, this is an opportunity for artists to visit the renovated gallery. We have also invited officials from the gallery to join us. If they allow us to enter the gallery, we will. Otherwise, we will just look at it from the outside and congratulate each other,” Sheela added.</p>.<p>The art fraternity was eagerly looking forward to the reopening of the gallery, which was renovated after years of neglect, said Pa Sa Kumar, a senior artist.</p>.<p>"We have all fought hard to make this renovation happen. We fought to ensure the gallery was not privatised. The renovated gallery, under the Brigade Group, is marvellous. Two more galleries have been added, and there is even a performance space. Some of us artists have been part of the entire renovation process, so it is unfair that when the time comes to inaugurate the project, the artists are neglected,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Bengaluru's art fraternity has decided to boycott the inauguration ceremony of the renovated Venkatappa Art Gallery, set to take place at 4 pm on Thursday.</p>.<p>The formal invitation sent out by the gallery and the government drew strong criticism from senior artists across the state for not having mentioned any artists.</p>.<p>"The invitation is only a long list of government officials. The Venkatappa Art Gallery belongs to the artists; it is a shame that not a single artist is mentioned,” said renowned artist SG Vasudev, who decided against attending the ceremony.</p>.<p>The fraternity is also irked that no senior artists were invited to be a part of the inauguration.</p>.Boost for TDR in Bengaluru, usage curbs eased.<p>"In fact, many of us did not receive the invitation. It was only after multiple artists started criticising the inauguration on social media that we received a formal invite on Tuesday evening,” said Sheela Gowda, member of the Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) Forum Working Committee.</p>.<p>After the fraternity's decision to boycott the event, a revised invitation mentioning some senior artists and extending an invitation to artists across the state was released around 7.30 pm on Wednesday. However, the VAG Forum has decided to stick to the boycott plan.</p>.<p><strong>'Gallery Pravesha'</strong></p>.<p>To accommodate the artists who will be boycotting the inauguration, the VAG Forum will organise an independent gathering at 11.30 am on Friday. The informal forum includes over 500 artists. The group is calling it a ‘Gallery Pravesha’ and has invited artists from across the state.</p>.<p>"We did not want to protest the inauguration. Since we are not attending the official event, this is an opportunity for artists to visit the renovated gallery. We have also invited officials from the gallery to join us. If they allow us to enter the gallery, we will. Otherwise, we will just look at it from the outside and congratulate each other,” Sheela added.</p>.<p>The art fraternity was eagerly looking forward to the reopening of the gallery, which was renovated after years of neglect, said Pa Sa Kumar, a senior artist.</p>.<p>"We have all fought hard to make this renovation happen. We fought to ensure the gallery was not privatised. The renovated gallery, under the Brigade Group, is marvellous. Two more galleries have been added, and there is even a performance space. Some of us artists have been part of the entire renovation process, so it is unfair that when the time comes to inaugurate the project, the artists are neglected,” he told <em>DH</em>.</p>