People treated to ‘fine’ art at Bengaluru's Chitra Santhe
BENGALURU: Eleven roads led to Kumara Krupa Road on Sunday. And the stalls extended to Crescent Road and Gandhi Bhavan Road. There were bursts of colour everywhere. From beautiful landscapes to portraits to abstract art to body painting.
More than three lakh people were part of this celebration of art and culture, showcased at the 17th edition of Chitra Santhe.
This year’s Santhe was dedicated to farmers and over 1,300 artists from various states like Manipur, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Goa, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha displayed their works.
While some showcased the lives of farmers, the others stuck to what they were best at -- displayed paintings of animals, Buddha, Lord Shiva, 3D paintings etc. Vimal, an artist, said, “I have represented how the cities are taking over farm lands and the farmers are losing their livelihood. Such themes are important to bring in awareness.”
Art lovers were spoilt for choice. “It is so difficult to choose. Everything is so amazing. All these artists have such great skills. I saw a painting of the Buddha which was so beautiful and wanted to buy it and then my eye went to a painting of Lord Shiva which was equally good. I don’t know what to buy,” said Vidya Shree, a resident of Jayanagar.
The paintings were sold starting from Rs 300 to lakhs of rupees. “The stall of Rajesh Anandan from Painters Palette art studio was fabulous. He had depicted paintings of Lord Shiva and Sadhus. They looked so life-like and the colours he had merged were even more beautiful. His paintings started from Rs 10,000 and I and decided to pick up one,” said Arvind T, a techie.
Rajesh Tivari, another art lover, said, “I bought a brass-embossed Shiva. The painting is so beautiful that I couldn’t resist buying it. I paid Rs 5,000, which I think, is a nominal price for this breathtaking painting.”
One particular stall drew the attention of many. And the cynosure of all eyes there was a painting of the Taj Mahal by artist Bharat Kumar. Made of acrylic and ball pen, it stood out for its fine detailing. “The painting took me about eight months. The price of the painting is Rs 2 lakh. Many are coming to see and clicking pictures but so far no one has purchased it due to the high price, perhaps,” he said.
Visitors were also treated to scenes depicting the life of a farmer. A structure -- Gandhi Kuteera-- was one such. There was even a wind chime structure made of coffee and tea bags.
Some of the other stuff which delighted the people was paintings made on rocks and tree stems which were sold at a very nominal rate. The other one was a painting on a coconut which had slogans like ‘do not smoke’, ‘don’t take drugs’ ‘ donate blood’, ‘save water’ and ‘save petrol’.