The Visakhapatnam Port Trust is set to revive its role as a major patron of cultural activities in the city and is planning setting up of a complex comprising an auditorium and an art gallery, its Chairman said.
The art gallery would be better than the State Art Gallery at Hyderabad and would have a permanent exhibition of works of well-known artists and it would also have space for organising exhibitions and workshops.
The idea is to create a must-visit tourist destination and have activity throughout the year, Mr Krishna Babu said speaking after inauguration of an exhibition of sculptures and paintings of CSN Patnaik here on Saturday.
The VPT has called for expression of interest from persons with experience in the field and the project should be completed by 2016, he said. The gallery would come up on the Port land abutting the National Highway and would have adequate parking for visitors and well laid out to make it a must visit tourist spot. The Port was planning to rope in the Fine Arts Department of the Andhra University to provide expertise in development of the Art Gallery, he said.
The proposed art gallery would fulfil a long-cherished dream of artists of the city, C.S.N. Patnaik said. Professor in Fine Arts Department Ravi Shankar Patnaik suggested that works by masters be brought on loan to be displayed at the proposed Art Gallery.
