Confluence to help emerging Indian artists brush up on their skills

Art is open to myriad interpretations by viewers and artists themselves. A new world of viewing an artist’s work could open up if artists meet, share and interact to exchange ideas and inspiration. This is the idea behind “I Art”, started by Delhi-based emerging contemporary artists Sangeeta Kumar Murthy and Suchismita Sahoo. I Art aims to give maximum exposure to the artists and their work and, for this, it is coming up with its second edition of International Art Symposium at Karma Lakelands, in Gurgaon between November 11 and 20.

The symposium aims for an intercultural exchange wherein 11 emerging Indian artists will get a chance to meet artists from six other countries.

There will be Lukaszk Rupski from Poland, Luka Radojevic from Serbia, T.G. Thet from Myanmar, Sabiha Hadzimuratovic of Bosnia, Yura Tkachenko and Valentina Dusavitskaya from Russia and Constantin Migliorini from Italy. The Indian artists include Sudha Sama, Kamlesh Gandhi, Parveen Upadhayay, Ashish Bose, Barkha Jain, Ritu Gupta, Rajesh Harsh, Kavita Wig, Shraboni Banerjee, and Manisha Khanna. There will be talks, discussions, workshops, presentations in the form of paintings, art installations, photography and apparel design.

“The first edition of International Art Symposium was organised last year to build a relationship between India and other countries. Its aim is cultural exchanges between countries, to share ideas in the form of what an artist thinks, what inspires one and the thought process needed to help young artists get better exposure about the technicalities and working styles of artists. It is intended that during their stay, the artist can show his capabilities and skills by making his own art. His presentations and works are discussed and a file of his work laid out,” says Sangeeta, who is very excited about being able to bring international artists to India.

Sangeeta and Suchismita, the organiser-curator duo, have always represented India in different countries in various symposiums and the cultural exchange that happens has always been enriching because it helps open up avenues. It helps in understanding different cultures, traditions and the minds of artists and, of course, what inspires them. While nature always remains one’s inspiration, there are artists who are even inspired by the monotony of our daily lives, our day-to-day struggles. A painting by Suchismita titled “Irresistible Lure” shows slices of bread in a transparent packet with a sparrow sitting on it. Another work that will be on display will be a cycle rickshaw full of clothes tied together. Art lovers will also get an opportunity to see art installations like “The Death Tongue”, a golden human skull, and a bust of Jesus Christ in wood.

“We conceived the idea of holding one in India as this would give an opportunity to Indian artists to showcase and discuss their work. It would open new horizons for artists who might not have got the kind of exposure they wanted. This would also help everyone pick ideas from one another as what has been seen is that the colour combinations are different for every country. This would help artists discuss what they feel and think and the discussions and workshops can help them voice opinions about different art forms and situations in different countries,” says Sangeeta. The symposium will have artists who will exhibit their paintings as well as sculptures. Also, this time the female ratio of participating artists is more. The paintings/sculptures that will be made during the workshops would be exhibited for a month at a stretch at Karmalake Land.

For Indian artists as well, the International Art Symposium is a platform to showcase their collections and show everyone what they are capable of. According to artist Rajesh Harsh, “There is a possibility that international artists are more technically sound, and this exchange would help us in a big way as it would bridge the gap between countries with different cultures, traditions and thought processes. It would also help us maintain good relations with people who think differently as inspiration can come from anyone and anything... This platform would help blur the line between the artists of different countries because at the end of the day we are all artists.”

All in all, this confluence of artists is a celebration of artistic freedom. It will add lustre to the rich oeuvre of experienced artists as well as give an opportunity to the upcoming artists to learn from their seniors.