BENGALURU: The Bhoga Nandeeshwara temple on the foothills of the Nandi Hills, or an afternoon at one of the largest lung spaces. Bengaluru’s old and new buildings with the clear blue sky as the backdrop; the joy of celebrations on people’s faces; or general facets of the city. These are various moods of Bengaluru that have been captured by various amateur photographers in the city. And you can witness these pictures at the ongoing Whitefield Art Collective at VR Mall. The showcase will continue till March 18.
Rightfully named Bangalore in Focus, the idea is to capture the city’s various moods. The photographs are clicked by city-based photographers. Sumi Gupta, the curator of the event, says they wanted to have a segment at the art collective which showcases different facets of the city. “We wanted people to tell us what the city means to them. Bangalore In Focus encourages people to tell us how they view this city and challenges them to capture the essence of such a large city in one single frame. Everyone experiences a city as diverse as Bengaluru differently,” says Gupta.
The preparation for this segment started a month in advance. “We started our call for entries a month before the festival and received 2,000+ pictures of which more than 200 were high-resolution pictures,” recalls Gupta, adding the motto of the festival is to make art inclusive and available to all.
Karthik Handral, who captured an afternoon at Lalbagh Botanical Garden with sun rays falling through trees was one of the selections for the exhibition. “Lalbagh is a very significant part of the city and is one of the city’s landmarks. I wanted to capture the lush greenery of it where the light does all the magic,” say Handral, a regular visitor to the park.
The public art festival which is in its sixth edition has a theme of A Fine Balance, and has over 100 art works displayed. The festival commenced with the unveiling of an art car, painted by The Geechulagalu Collective, followed by wearable art, a fashion showcase by JD Institute of Fashion Technology.