An art fair, first of its kind in Hyderabad is set to take place. A three-day fair is fashioned along the lines of the art fair that takes place in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. It’s actually been in the pipeline for a couple of years; the core team of 18 artistes from the city explains that the planning took some time, “because we want to make it an annual affair where artists and art lovers can come under one roof to discuss art,” explains Mangurish.
Signature style For the project, 100 boxes of specific dimensions were distributed to the artists selected. The artists would return the boxes with their signature style work on them. “These boxes will be put up for sale in the fair. The fair isn’t all about selling the boxes. There will be talks, discussions and presentations from various artists to begin with. This will be followed by discussions with participants,” explains Shivarama Chary.
Each of the 18 core members were in charge of distributing and collecting the boxes; so far around 95 percent of the boxes distributed have been returned with the artwork. “The dimensions of the box stand at 12’x14’x6’. These are designed in the style of functional boxes which come with a lock and key latch,” explain Mangurish.
To begin with, the team plans to highlight senior artists who have been instrumental in putting Hyderabad on the art map. “From senior artists like Laxma Goud, DLN Reddy, Thota Vaikuntam, Surya Prakash, Rajeshwar Rao, B. Srinivas Reddy, Kavitha Deuskar, Anjali Reddy, B. Padma Reddy, Aelay Laxman, Ramesh Gorjala, Sachin Jaltare and many more will be a part to make this a visual feast for any art lover,” adds Shivarama Chary.
Varied themes The topics of discussion on the occasion range from Women artists of Andhra Pradesh, Contemporary Andhra art, Historicity of Andhra Art: exclusion of contemporary art of Andhra Pradesh in mainstream art, Reclaiming identity: representation of “Telangana-ness’ in contemporary art and cinema. The session will be presided by Nirmala Biluka, Rohini Iyengar, Avani Rao Gandra, Atiya Amjad, Anand Gadapa.
The art fair also aims at creating awareness about art, artists, art critics and the art community in a broader way. “The identity of the practicing contemporary artists can be projected to the society by organising such fairs with the idea of promoting art and developing its viewership in the twin cities,” adds Shivarama Chary. The fair will be held at Nehru Art Gallery, JNAFAU Masabtank this month.
