Art Street beckons onlookers to pause and reflect

An artist at work at the Art Street event held on Race Course Scheme Road in the city on Saturday.

As part of Coimbatore Vizha, ‘Art Street’ was inaugurated on Race Course Scheme Road on Saturday with over 100 artists from across the State participating this year.

K. Periaiah, Inspector-General of Police (West Zone), inaugurated the third edition of Art Street. Thousands of artworks along with attractive exhibits adorned the entire stretch of the Scheme Road.

One of the exhibits, four tower-like structures with coloured acrylic glasses, was the cynosure of all eyes. According to Ashik Jaffer-Ali, one of the organisers, the towers, named ‘Beacons of Resonance’, are based on the theme ‘Of Reflections and Transition’. “As Coimbatore is in a phase of transition of becoming a Smart City, we as citizens tend to lose bearing of familiarity. These towers with their colourful reflections might help people to pause and reflect about the past and future of Coimbatore city,” she said.

Apart from artworks, events such as art workshops, food stalls and music performances were arranged. “We wanted to attract as many people as possible,” said S. Shrikumaravelu, one of the organisers. Art Street was conceived to offer more than regular art exhibition where artists exhibit their works for sale, enabling more people to support them, he said.

With both experienced and amateur artists participating, Ms. Jaffer-Ali said that no particular theme or topic was given for the artworks. “Having topics would limit the creativity of artists,” she said.

S. Sangeetha, a college graduate from Salem, exhibited 10 of her charcoal sketches of animals and portraits with intricate detailing. “I learnt charcoal sketching through YouTube,” she said, adding that shenever took any formal lessons.

R. Aaruthra from Tiruppur, who is in her final year of college, exhibited her hand-drawn calenders made with seed papers (handmade papers containing plant seeds).

Some of the experienced artists at Art Street include N. Bhagavathi Sundaram from Sivakasi, who has been a professional artist for 30 years and specialises in ballpoint pen sketches. V. Raju from Chennai, who specialises in sand art, said that he hopes to make some connections through this event to exhibit his works overseas.