Art students across the country can rejoice. Delhi-based arts organisation Art Route is now providing a platform for students of art to not only showcase their work but also sell it while they are still in college. Started by Lubna Sen and Ujjwal Ankur, Art Route is reaching out to art colleges across India and tapping young potential like never before.
In a first such endeavour, beginning on October 9 at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Delhi, Art Route is organising Prarambh, India’s first students’ arts festival where over a hundred budding artists will be showcasing their works. Prarambh will feature artworks in fields as diverse as drawing, painting, printmaking, illustrations, digital art, sculpture, installation, new media, mix media, video and photography.
Says Lubna Sen, “Our vision is to create a vibrant artistic environment through a continuous exchange of ideas among communities of different backgrounds. We want to build a platform where artists and individuals from different cultures, geographies and disciplines meet and explore different approaches to the creation of artistic art. We believe that art should be for the masses and aim to broad base public interest in art through education and promotion. With a strong belief that art can contribute to the overall development of the society, we aim to explore various social issues through the medium of visual art.”
Adds Ujjwal Ankur, “Prarambh will be a platform for young students of visual arts to showcase their talent and receive real market exposure. It will provide them hands-on practical experience and prepare them for their future careers. Students will have the opportunity to receive critical feedback of their art from peers, experts and the public. Through the works of their contemporaries, they will be exposed to several different approaches and philosophies in art.”
One of the participating artists, Vasundhara Anand from New Delhi, says, “My dreams are the backbone of my artwork. Print-making, due to its nature of vast experimentation, has become my way to express feelings. And surprisingly, sometimes to discover them.”
Vasundhara’s work titled Somatic Escalation is a pure celebration of the grandness and magic of our conscious and unconscious mind, which swiftly makes us rise to a surreal realm. Another work titled Rising Above the Void depicts the effortless transition into the unknown realm.
Ankita Singh, another participant, says about her work titled Body in Question that, “The work depicts how the so-called saints or godly figures take advantage of people’s faith in them.”
Samiksha, yet another participant, says that her acrylic on canvas titled Dream Landscape of Ragpickers deals with the imaginative world of ragpickers who create an illusion of a magical life for themselves. Her other work is titled Dhobhi Ghat, and uses charcoal and mud on paper.
Riya V, a participant from New Delhi, depicts the beauty of Lord Krishna through an acrylic and ink on paper work.
(Poonam Goel is a freelance journalist who contributes articles on visual arts for unboxedwriters.com)