This weekend, Ark Park celebrates a landmark — it is their 75th session in the city and in an age when consistency is rare, their commitment is truly commendable.
The brainchild of one of the city’s senior artists, S.G. Vasudev, Art Park began in 2014 as a cultural initiative to involve artists and their audiences. “Galleries come across as being exclusive and not everyone is comfortable walking into one. Many people are wary of meeting artists, while a few artists themselves are quite shy of meeting people. We felt a park would make a great meeting place for both parties,” says Vasudev.
Art Park is usually held on the first Sunday of every month at the Sculpture Garden (Shilpavana) in the Ravindra Kalakshetra complex located on Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Road (J.C. Road). However, since their 75th is a milestone event, it will be held at Bangalore International Centre, where other activities will also take place from 11 a.m.
Apart from invited artists who will be painting as they usually do at Art Park, the committee has also called on a few other artists to address the gathering and to execute a few of their signature strokes for those assembled, he says.
From an earlier Art Park session. | Photo Credit: Ruth Dhanaraj
Some of the chief guests include Balan Nambiar, PaSa Kumar, M.S. Murthy and Urmila Devi, among others. President of the Art Park Committee Bhagya Ajaikumar as well as Vasudev, honorary president, will speak on the occasion, sharing their experiences dating back to the launch of this initiative.
“We will also remember a few artists who have passed on and are no longer with us. Following this, we will screen a few clips from previous editions of Art Park,” says Vasudev. There will be a seminar on Art Park’s roadmap for the future with panelists Arundhati Nag, Jayakumar G. and Nalini Malaviya who will moderated by Suresh Jayaram.
The event will also see a poetry performance by Mamata Sagar and a music recital by M.D. Pallavi as well as performance art by Dimple Shah at the entrance of the venue.
As is customary with regular Art Park sessions, there will be about 20 to 25 artists present who will be creating works of art on the premises, apart from a few completed works they would have brought along. “At Art Park, the price of our paintings created there are capped at ₹1000, no matter how much they fetch elsewhere or how accomplished the artist,” says Vasudev.
Some of the participating artists for this edition of Art Park include Arasu T.V., Bharathi Sagar, K G Lingadevaru, Mridul Chandra, Sheetal C.S. and Urmila V.G., among others as well as printmakers Akshay Bhat and Puja Kedia.
The 75th edition of Art Park will be held at Bangalore International Centre on April 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Entry free.
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