Chitra Sante focused on Gandhi, environment

The 16th edition of the annual art fair, Chitra Sante was held on January 6, at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. The festival had around 1,400 artworks.

One could witness multimedia paintings, sculptures, graphic prints, and handicrafts on the sidewalks approaching Kumara Krupa Road. We could also indulge in some snacks to prep us for the artful day ahead.

With artists from all over the country gathered, the one-day festival had quite unique artworks.

“Chitra Sante is the only festival which does not need an invitation. Being a one-day festival, lakhs of people gather here, every year,” says Raghavendra Kulkarni, head of research centre, Chitrakala Parishath.

This year’s Chitra Sante was dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, celebrating his 150th birth anniversary. Most of the artworks reflected the life history of the Mahatma. The students of Chitrakala Parishath also built the biggest charka in the city.

‘Swachh Bharath’ was also prioritised this year. Trash bins were placed almost everywhere encouraging people to not litter.

New concepts
Sravani, an upcoming artist who has been participating in the event for more than six years, says that Chitra Santhe is a great platform for aspiring artists, “I come up with a different theme every year. I have come up with pointillism this year. I take about 14 hours for each artwork”. ‘Pointillism’, a technique of painting in which small dots of colour are applied in patterns to form an image, and Sravani chose the colours black and white in her rendition of the concept.

We also came across self-taught artist Amit Dwhare whose paintings were made using coffee powder. “I use water and instant coffee powder. It is like normal painting, but needs a lot of practice,” he elaborates.

Eco-friendly
The sante also upheld the concept of recycling and reusing. Artist Karthik Soni used recycled paper in his artworks featuring parts of Mumbai. “I used just waterproof ink and brush. The paintings will stay for 100 years,” he affirms. Handmade books, wooden pendants, eco-friendly notebooks were a few more environment-friendly products that the students of Chitrakala Parishath displayed.