Artists from across the country are showcasing their creativity at the ‘Spandan Puducherry Art Carnival’.
The festival is a part of the ‘Spandan Global Art Festival’, an initiative aiming to host art carnivals in all the 29 states and 7 union territories of India.
Inaugurated by Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy, the event is on till June 17. The Chief Minister was accompanied by Manoj Parida, Chief Secretary.
The guests visited the art exhibition and awarded participation certificates to all the artists.
“Artists are the core of civilisation, art and culture will remain for an eternity” said Mr. Parida, while commending the initiative.
The Spandan art project, the brainchild of Anant Vikas, chairman, Spandan International, was launched in July 2016 and has already covered 10 states, and has planned to cover the rest before December 2018. The objective behind the initiative is to provide a platform for struggling artists.
A total of 36 artists from across the country have exhibited their paintings. “This is a fantastic event,” said Bindu Dawar Saluja, an artist from Jaipur.
As a step to fight social issues, SPANDAN recognises individuals and organisations that have made significant contribution in the fields of art, culture, health, sports and environment by hosting an award ceremony that took place shortly after the inauguration.
Lalit Verma, founder of Aurodhan, was presented the lifetime achievement award. The organisation has also instituted the ‘SPANDAN Social Awards’ to recognise inspiring talent from various segments of art.
Art souk on the anvil
The objective of the art festival is to provide an international platform and facilitate business links for artists from India. Also considering the challenges faced by the artists in selling their art works, SPANDAN is planning to establish an art souk during the course of the event. “I am not an artist but I love art. Initially my aim was to provide a platform to artists but now, given the circumstances, I am going to help them sell their paintings without any commission” said Mr. Vikas.
The 14-day carnival will include workshops, art exhibitions and events like tree plantation. Mr. Vikas also said that a 20-day carnival would be organised again in Pondicherry in November and he is also planning to organise such festivals in other countries too.
