HYDERABAD: There is nothing more that art lovers like than visiting galleries and gazing at works of art displayed on the walls. But to watch artists in action? And to see a painting come alive? To interact with the artist as he or she works on their canvas? Now that is a treat for the art lover!
All this and more are coming up this weekend at the Kallam Anji Reddy Arts (KARA) Festival 2018, from November 16 to 18. The venue is Out of the Box, Green Park Hotel. Except for one event, entry is free and open to all.
KARA is an annual art festival in memory of the late, legendary figure of Indian pharmaceuticals Dr Kallam Anji Reddy. He was a scientist, entrepreneur, philanthropist and art-patron who made great contributions to the field of medicines. The festival is the brainchild of his daughter Anuradha Gunupati, who is Founder-Trustee of the non-profit organisation Dr Reddy’s Foundation and the well-known cultural space Saptaparni.
The artists featured are Alok Uniyal, Bairu Raghuram, Trupti Joshi, Niranjan Jonnalagadda, Basuki Dasgupta,G Ramakrishna, MV Ramana Reddy, Siddharth Shingade, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Das HR, Deepa Vedpathak, Ramesh V, Sanjay Ashtaputre, Gowri Vemula, Vinita Dasgupta, Shampa Sircar Das, Haren Thakur, KS Radhakrishnan, Srikanth Kurva, SG Vasudev, and Venkat Shyam. They represent a cross-section of respected artists from around India who work in different media. They have been part of group art shows and even held solo shows for which they have received much appreciation.
At the art camp, these artists will be creating their works from start. People invited to meet and interact with them on both days. Thus, it will be a welcome opportunity for all art aficionados and an educative experience for art students especially.
Since the KARA aims to serve a charitable cause in keeping with the philanthropic nature of Dr Reddy’s Foundation, all these artworks will later be put up for sale and the entire proceeds will go to Sadhana, an NGO dedicated to service of persons with special needs.
As Anuradha says: “This festival is my way of paying tribute to my father and encouraging art and culture. We designed the camp such that the public gets an opportunity to interact directly with well-known artists and watch the creative process as it happens.”
This is the fourth edition of the KARA festival. The success of the previous events has been encouraging to the organisers as the events were well-attended. Many students, especially, of art colleges flocked to the art camps.
These events also received much support from eminent artistes like Thota Vaikuntam and Laxma Goud both belonging to Hyderabad as also other well-known personalities in this field from around India like KS Radhakrishnan, V Ramesh, Vrindavan Solanki, and Shivuprasanna. Music and dance have also been components of the KARA festival in previous years.
Schedule
Nov 16 Fri - 10:30 am inauguration by Anji Reddy
Nov 16 Fri - 11:00 am-5:00 pm - art camp. Artists paint at Out-of-the box. Public invited to meet and interact with them
Nov 17 Sat - 11:00 am-5:00 pm- art camp. Artists paint at Out-of-the box. Public invited to meet and interact with them
Nov 17 Sat - 7:00 pm - Talk by K.S. RadhaKrishnan - guest of honour KARA 2018 (entry by invitation only)
Nov 18 Sun - 11:00 am - 1:00 pm - Artist camp concludes