The art community in Hyderabad has come together during the lockdown period for an online art auction. This fund raising endeavour includes a virtual exhibition of artworks by 30 artists will take place between 8 am on April 14 to 8 pm of April 15. The auction is a collaboration between Kalakriti Art Gallery and 30 artists of Hyderabad and proceeds from the sale of these artworks will be donated to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) to fight COVID-19.
“The artists told us their intent to contribute and we conceived this idea of an auction,” reveals Rekha Lahoti of Kalakriti Art Gallery. She adds, “The show titled ‘Art in Isolation: Art Supports Fight against Corona’ reiterates the fact that artists, like everyone else, are also isolated, but they are connected when it comes to providing solace in these difficult days.”
Work by Sunil Lohar
The idea is to bring in more art aficionados and contribute to the cause. The base price of the art works starts off at low bids. “We will be working with a reasonable price; the base will be 30 per cent less than the MRP price. Buyers can benefit and get the works for less price.”
Rekha elaborates that as per the terms and conditions of he collaboration, neither the artists nor the gallery will stand to earn from the sale. Even cheques will not be taken, only DDs in the name of Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to be accepted. “We only told them the work should be fresh so that more people are interested in it.”
Chinthala Jagadish
The auction features works by senior artists like Thota Vaikuntham, Laxman Aelay, Chippa Sudhakar and Jagadish Chintala as well as Sayam Bharath Yadav and Masuram Ravikanth.
Apart from this collaborative auction, Kalakriti has also taken a virtual step and will be launching its online art gallery. Rekha terms this a positive step, the need of the hour. Since the lockdown was announced, the gallery has been working in this direction. “The whole world is working on a virtual platform and exploring areas. Our online gallery (Kalakritiartgallery.com) will begin with a show — The Other Side, paintings by Muzaffar Ali. We will regularly have three shows in our virtual gallery.”
The preview for the online art auction begins on April 12 from 11:30 am
