Cultural camaraderie between India and Philippines
Arth Art International (India) and ArtisteSpace, Inc (Philippines) have unveiled a new show, Kala-Likha (Art & Creation), bringing together leading contemporary artists from the two countries.
by artist Laxman Aelay
Exhibition curator, Sushil Shriwastwa tells The Morning Standard that the highlight of this show is the strong bonding and inter-cultural relationship between India and the Philippines. “Artists from both countries have shown a transformation in a COVID-19 pandemic situation to a new normal and adopting the online and high tech in the art field,” he says.
Talking about the reasons of an online exhibition he adds, “Due to the pandemic, everyone, along with the artists are affected badly and facing a very hard survival time. We have organised this virtual art exhibition to support the participating artists with an attempt to reach to a wider network. A virtual exhibition is a bit less expensive than the physical exhibition and in the current situation this format will give better results.”
Kala-Likha features 14 Indian artists and 14 Filipino artists, and together brings about a sense of diversity with varied themes and styles such as nostalgia, history, sense of responsibilities, fear and hope. Some of the prominent participating Indian artists are Asurvedh, Brajesh Verman, Dharmendra Rathore, Hemraj, Jagadish Dey. Representing the Philippines are artists Thelma Badon, Phoebe Beltran Almazan, Lara Latosa, among others.
According to Shriwastwa, Filipino art is very similar to Indian art as both are Asian countries. “However, Filipino artists try to portray the rural and provincial lifestyle. In this exhibition, Filipino artists have displayed figurative and abstract paintings showing their lifestyle in the province and current pandemic situation.”