‘National Art Festival’ by Chennai Art Bull

‘Chennai Art Bull’ is organizing a grand Art Festival at Egmore, Chennai during 7-9^th July 2023, a first time, on such a large scale in South India.

This unique three-day event offers artists an opportunity to showcase their art in a rented stall. The plan is to have 100 such Art Stalls equipped with facilities for art display. It is a good opportunity for young and mid-career artists to reach out to large number of art lovers and potential buyers, better than trying to connect with art lovers individually. Additionally, there will be parallel events during the festival, including a Two-Day ‘Art Camp’ (Self-funded, INR 2500/-) and topical ‘Art Talks’ by eminent artists and senior art experts.

The rich heritage of Art in Chennai

Chennai has been home to a thriving art community in the form of institutions such as the ‘Cholamandal Artists’ village’, the ‘KalaKshetra’ and the ‘DakshinaChitra’, each one providing favorable ecosystem necessary for artists to engage in their creative pursuits in a peaceful and fulfilling manner.

The ‘Cholamandal Artists’ Village’ located near Adyar in Chennai, is a community of artists equipped with living spaces, studio spaces, and dedicated spaces for conducting art conferences and discussions. It is India’s largest self-supporting artists’ village and said to be one of the most successful one in Asia, especially focusing in the field of contemporary art. In an exclusive conversation with Chinha Art News, Mr Bhagwan Shankar Chavan, a senior resident artist of ‘Cholamandal Artists’ Village’ appraised us about the path-breaking model of this artist village. He informed us that this model has been encouraging many artists like him since the 1950’s. The inception of this institution happened through the vision of Mr K C S Paniker who was a painter himself. This gave a lifeline to contemporary Indian art, during that era. However, as the founding father and many of the painters and sculptors retired from Cholamandal, the legacy must continue. As Mr Bhagwan Chavan elaborated further, despite the rich art heritage of the city, the opportunities for exhibition and sale of paintings are limited, as compared to Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru.

Chennai has another such mature institution named ‘Kalakshetra Foundation’ (Originally, ‘Kalakshetra’) which offers art education in Indian classical dance, music, and fine arts. This institution had humble beginnings in the 1930’s when it was initiated by visionary Rukmini Devi. Since then, it has forayed into other related areas including Craft Education & Research as well as School Education.

‘DakshinaChitra Museum’ headquartered at Chennai is the third important institution in this trio of Art institutions in Chennai. It was initiated in 1984 by Dr Deborah Thiagarajan with a purpose to set up an institution to celebrate the diverse cultures of the people of Southern India. The conceptual idea was inspired by the artisans and folk artists of the villages. The museum mandates to preserve, promote and present the rich cultural heritage of South India through curated permanent exhibits and a variety of public programming.

Need for a fresh impetus!

While talking to Chinha Art News, Mr Uday Shankar, organizer of the ‘Avant Garde National Art Festival’ elaborated the need and concept of the event. He explained that in the recent times, even though thousands of youth graduate from various art colleges in Tamil Nadu, opportunities for them to showcase their art are shrinking, because there are just a handful of active art galleries available in the capital city of Chennai. Art exhibitions and sales have dwindled during the COVID lockdown. To revive this gloomy scenario, he came up with this unique idea of conducting an Art Festival wherein artists and art lovers can meet. He emphasized that he gives priority to youth and women artists while planning any such events including this one.

About the Organizer

The creative brain behind this initiative is Mr Uday Shankar who besides being an artist and innovator, has rich experience of 35 years in Pharma industry. He has dedicated the past several years for the cause of popularizing art. For this purpose, he has organized around 30 similar events and art exhibitions in the past across Chennai and other parts of India. He was appointed as coordinator for South India art, culture and tourism by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and is honorary member of CII and FICCI as special invitee for Art and Culture.

Artist Benefits offered at ‘National Art Festival’ at Chennai

Artists can book a stall of 10X10 Ft size with necessary display arrangements for INR 12000/- for two participants for three days period, which includes complementary lunch and tea. Certificates and Mementos will be awarded to both participants. Additionally, organizers have offered discounts at Food Stall and support for local hotel room bookings.

For further information and booking, call Chennai Art Bull on +919003028193 / +918825672633

Appeal by the Organizer

Through this Art Festival, Chennai Art Bull is trying to revive the art scenario by infusing some action into the art world of Chennai. They have appealed to all artists to benefit from this opportunity. Chennai Art Bull has also appealed to Art galleries, Institutions, Art Magazines and any interested institution or individuals to connect for collaboration.

Vineel Bhurke