Over the past three weeks, 10 artists from five countries came together at Vijayanagar, near Hampi, to create artworks using industrial scrap.
The artists, who participated in a workshop titled Abhisaran, an initiative of the JSW Foundation, were given a free hand at creating the masterpieces.
They came up with various forms of art, such as paintings, sculptural installations, video and sound. Some installations included recording thoughts of workers and writing them on a paper and placing them in a bottle. Another work was a letter penned by a calligrapher, in which he apologises to the sculptors who created monuments in the Vijayanagar kingdom, many of which have been ruined by invaders.
Amit Kumar Jain, curator of Abhisaran, said the idea behind the workshop was to bring artists from various parts of the world together to present their interpretations of the historical ruins of Hampi and a new age township at Vijayanagar. The workshop aims to create a dialogue in contemporary and performing arts across borders. “The other objective was to reconnect with old traditions at a site which is known for its cultural heritage and is a developed township,” he said.
