Can a wider dialogue with not just the protesting artists but also writers and politicians help resolve the stand-off over the adoption of Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) by Tasveer Foundation?
The Department of Tourism is counting on this and has called for a meeting on Thursday with artists, writers and detractors of the MoU signed with Tasveer Foundation. The meeting is to be held at Vidhana Soudha.
C.S. Krishna Setty, co-ordinator of the VAG Forum, is leading the protests on behalf of the artists. “In the last meeting, the minister R.V. Deshpande asked us to read the MoU and reconsider our stand. We have read the MoU and have in no uncertain terms conveyed our stand through our recent protests. We will convey the same to the minister on Thursday,” he said.
Mr. Setty further said that they are not opposed to the government taking CSR funds from Tasveer Foundation. “But we don’t want to give any administrative authority to the private trust. Why does Tasveer want to control the space? Let them donate for the cause and the government administer the space,” he said.
While V. Ravichandar, co-chair, Karnataka Tourism Vision Group, will be part of the meeting on Thursday, Abhishek Poddar of Tasveer Foundation is strangely not among the invitees. B.K. Chandrashekhar from Congress, Y.S.V. Datta from JDS and S. Suresh Kumar from BJP are expected to participate.
