KK Gandhi | photo credit: special arrangement
For six days – from January 19 to January 24 – the ground floor at the State Art Gallery in Hyderabad was transformed into a studio space for 16 artists from across the country and Nepal as they transformed their thought processes onto canvas. The resulting 32 paintings were created as part of this Indo-Nepal art symposium.
The paintings reflecting the environment are currently on display at the gallery until February 2. Apart from Hyderabad-based Anjani Reddy, who is also the curator, the other artists are KK Gandhi, Anuradha Thakur, Ragini Upadhyay, Sushma Shakya, Asha Dangol, Kaushal Hamal, Samudra Man Singh, Prachandya Shakya, Vimmi Indra, Srikanth Kadam, Gauri Vemula, Bijay Biswal, Vivek Nimbolkar, Akshay Anand and Gurram Mallesham.
how it started
Anjani Reddy | photo credit: special arrangement
In August 2022, Anjani met some Nepalese artists for an art and music symposium in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. State Art Gallery, K Lakshmi Reddy for facilitating this. “Six days of Kala is like meeting again,” says Anjani.
While the medium used is acrylic – except for Vimmi Indra who has used oil – each artist has created two works of 3×4 feet and 2×2 feet.
By Asha Dangol | photo credit: special arrangement
KK Gandhi’s Buddha Bhoomi brings to life the serenity of the Himalayas as monks walk towards a monastery. The artist from Jammu and Kashmir says, “I completed the painting in six hours on the first day of the seminar.”
While Anjani’s canvas is a village resplendent with traditional Sankranti festivities, Anuradha Thakur’s painting, aptly titled Festival of Colors, explores tribal life in a vibrant splash of colours.
By Samudra Man Singh | photo credit: special arrangement
Ragini Upadhyay’s painting focuses on the friendship between India and Nepal, and depicts the union of a peacock and a Himalayan monal (Damphe) with a lotus and red rhododendron (the national bird and flower of India and Nepal respectively) in their beaks. Talking about the art scene in Nepal, the Kathmandu-based artist and former Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Fine Arts said, “Traditional art – Thangka and Paubha is alive in Nepal. We are also well connected with international art. Nepal is a small But the country is important and our artists are doing well in international exhibitions.
Akshay Anand Singh, a resident of Hyderabad, pays tribute to his motherland by depicting the hustle and bustle of the old city. His Joy to Hyderabad canvas depicts a typical landscape of a place where hawkers sell goods, shoppers, tourists and foreigners explore the old city.
Gowri Vemula’s tryst with the forest continues as imaginative figures of gods and goddesses in the co-existence of nature, men and women. There is one more work on Aries.
Kohinoor Diamond by Gurram Mallesham | photo credit: special arrangement
Inspired by the Kohinoor diamond, academic and artist Gurram Mallesham’s acrylic painting glorifies the treasure in a beautiful hue of blue, emitting a meditative light. Nagpur-based Vijay Biswas quit his railway job to focus on his passion. His playful Krishna is adorable in a narrative dream sequence. “I dream about art all the time and love creating feel-good paintings,” says Vijay.
Asha Dangol and Samudra Man Singh from Kathmandu explore different themes. If Asha through her Varaha Rupam work shows the wrath of Mount Everest due to pollution, the ocean does a relic art.
Delhi-based Vimmi Indra’s specialty is the urban landscape and she sometimes combines it with figurative elements as she has done here in a painting of a mother and child. “The city cannot be imagined without the people,” she says.
These artworks will be displayed at the State Art Gallery till February 2.