HYDERABAD: Art@Telangana Trust was formed well before the bifurcation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh with an agenda to promote contemporary art of Telangana. A few art camps and exhibitions were held under the purview of art@telangana during the Telangana movement at various places in support of the movement where artists took part voluntarily.
It all started when eminent filmmaker, artist and poet B Narsing Rao curated a show in Delhi inviting more than 40 senior and upcoming artists from Telangana. The show was titled ‘art@telangana’. The aim of the exhibition was to showcase the rich artistic tradition of the state. It was around the same time that Narsing Rao interacted with BV Paparao, a retired I.A.S officer, who was working for the restoration of Kakatiya heritage by establishing ‘Kakatiya Heritage Trust’. The duo then shared their ideas with S Niranjan Reddy, an eminent lawyer, who was doing a research on lakes of Telangana.
Along with Laxman Aelay, a well-known artist and research scholar in the field of folk arts of Telangana, Art@Telangana was established. The trust is not associated with Government of Telangana nor aided by any of the enterprises belonging to the state government. It is a non-profit private organisation with no financial aid anticipated from the government.
A book with the name ‘Art@Telangana’, that documents 100 years of art in Telangana after 18 months of research and documentation by artists and scholars.
The trust has been working towards placing artists from Telangana on a global platform through various camps, book launches and exhibitions at prestigious centres, such as World Metropolis Congress, HICC, Hyderabad, India Art Fair New Delhi, India art Festival Tokyo and recently Rubin Museum of Art in New York, among others.
Activities
‘Art for Cause’ -- a fund raising exhibition for Andhra flood victims was organized at Gallery Space, Hyderabad. The proceeds were later presented to the chief minister of Andhra, NChandrababu Naidu.
‘Art for Amity’ -- a public art event held at Shilparamam, Hyderabad on December 28, 2014. The event was open for all artists to participate in reaction to the horrific terror attack on school children at Peshawar, Pakistan.
‘Rethinking Public Spaces: a Seminar on Public art’ -- The event was held in collaboration with French Bordeaux Métropole held on April 9th & 10th, 2015.
‘Graffiti/Street Art’ -- The event was held on April 10, 2015 in order to create awareness on Public art at JNAFA University, Masabtank, Hyderabad.
Book launches
The book Art@Telangana was launched in a series of events at World Metropolis Congress, Hyderabad by Former President, late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Governer of Telangana ESL Narsimhan and chief minister of Telangana K Chandrashekher Rao. About 600 art@telangana books were distributed to the delegates from various countries.
There was also a book launch at India Art Fair in New Delhi by eminent artist Sudarshan Shetty, art historian Yashodhara Dalmiya and Anjali Sen, former Director of NGMA. About 110 art@telangana books were distributed to the galleries in the Art Fair and to the art collectors from various countries.
Sponsored three artists Suryaprakash, Bairu Raghuram and Bharath Yadav from Telangana were selected by Embassy of Japan for artists-in residency in Japan, during the book launch of Art@ Telangana at India Art Festival, Tokyo.
Travelling art Exhibition
Display of artworks at Taramati Baradari for invited Foreign delegates
Display of artworks at World Metropolis Congress, Hyderabad
Display of artworks at Muse Art Gallery including launching the web portal www.artattelangan.org
Display of artworks at Salar Jung Museum along with screening of short film ‘Maaooru’ of B Narsing Rao on Telangana culture
Display of artworks at Falaknuma Palace inaugurated by Princess Ezra