1,200 artists line up their works at Chitra Santhe

Y. Maheswara Reddy & Manjunath Hadimani | NT

It was a different outing for more than a lakh people of Bengaluru on Sunday. They thronged Kumara Krupa Road and Crescent Road where around 1,200 artists from across the country taking part in Chitra Santhe, organized by Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat. The artists have exhibited their art works at the street art festival.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai inaugurated the Chitra Santhe on Sunday by signing on a painting. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Ministers Dr C.N. Aswath Narayan and S.T. Somasekhar went around Chitra Santhe on an electric vehicle . The Chief Minister also bought an ice candy from a vendor.

“I want to thank B.L. Shankar and his team for organizing Chitra Santhe. I am also very happy to know that the theme of Chitra Santhe is 75 years of India’s Independence. I want Shankar to work towards making Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat as a deemed university. I am assuring all the help from my government,” the chief minister said.

Emphasising the need to encourage artists, the chief minister advised the artists not to bother about critics. “The critics are always interested in finding mistakes. God himself is not perfect in creating this world. So, it is not possible to expect artists to do paintings without any mistakes. I want the public to appreciate artists who give more importance to satisfaction than money,” said.

The artists include painters, sculptors, body artists, cartoonists, and others were seen exhibiting their paintings and products at the Chitra Santhe. There were live performances by students from the Chitrakala Parishat’s College of Fine Arts. “I am expecting two to three lakh people to visit Chitra Santhe by evening. I am very happy with the response from the public, especially art lovers. Chitra Santhe is Karnataka’s pride,” said Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat president B.L. Shankar.

A group of students from a private school also participated in the fair. “We are from Sadashivanagar. Our teacher has paid the fee for putting up a stall here. Our paintings are natural and the price of the paintings is between Rs 750 to Rs 2,000,” said Adoksh A.R. from Sadashivanagar.

Natesh Lakshman Rao, a software engineer from Basavanagudi, put up paintings that showcase the mood and weather of Bangalore. “I am a Bengalurean by birth and heart. Being an IT professional and an artist by hobby, my passion is to showcase the awesomeness of Bangalore,’’ said Natesh Lakshman Rao.

Mysuru based popular Rosewood Inlay art was also one among many eye-catching artworks at the fair. Mohan, a software engineer was seen not only exhibiting the rosewood artworks but also educating the curious minds around. “Usually if you see around in ‘Chitra Santhe’ most of the artists use a brush but we use a bow. This is not exactly a painting, this is wood art where we use different types of wood to create different shades. If you see rosewood furniture, you would only notice one colour but we use a colourful bunch in our art. The colour of this rosewood depends on the soil in which it grows. We artisans travel around the world to get a few specific tints of wood. By using a bow we cut the wood into pieces and combine it like a puzzle, after this wood will be pressed, buffed, polished, waxed, and finally finished with the frame. To do all this we need six to eight artisans. We can only see this rich art based from Mysuru throughout India,” Mohan said.

Chetan, a 23-year-old artist who recently completed his masters at Chitrakala Parishath was attracting people towards his stall through artworks of late Puneeth Rajkumar. He had used denim cloth, adhesive tape, stapler pins to create the portraits. “I have been doing artwork for the last 5 years. Puneeth sir has been an inspiration and since last 3 months I worked on his portraits. This is my tribute to him,” he said.

In the plethora of artists, Prajwala Matha, a deaf artist who completed B.Tech also finds her place. She along with her mother has come from Bisnal, a village in Basavan Bagewadi Taluk in Vijayapura.”Prajwala has worked on a variety of projects including Traditional, Odisha, Rajasthani, Mural, Nature, Bharata Natyam and many others. She loves doing antique paintings on Indian culture. She has been interested in painting since childhood. After completing B.Tech she is completely into it now. She also takes classes for children. We have paintings ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 40,000,” Prajwala’s mother Annapoorna said.