Creativity comes to rule Art Walkway

Creativity comes to rule Art Walkway

There is a lot one can experience on the walk down the promenade on M G Road. Creativity, talent and imagination form part of the experience.
Deccan Herald

Talent is as much a part of the Bangalore International Art Festival as the ability of the human imagination to explore various contours of creativity.

Delicate bidriwork artefacts fought for space on the display shelves at the stalls of the M G promenade along with the office accessories. There was also terracotta junk jewellery, wall-hangings and even ganjifa cards all vying for the casual strollers’ attention. There is much that catches the eye and the imagination at the ‘Art Walkway’ on the promenade on M G Road.

It was a marriage of innovation and imagination that brought to life a blend of traditional and modern art.

Kalamkari art on bed spreads, wallets, jewellery boxes, telephone books and folders are all available for prices ranging from Rs 25 to Rs 1,000. There are also works of art on canvas, glass and simple plain paper, most of them by trained artists. There’s a store that sells only images of Gods and Goddesses etched on glass. If you’re tired and hungry then there’s mouth-watering home-made chocolates from Roxie priced between Rs 5 and Rs 20.

The second day of the art festival saw much anticipation from the onlookers and anxiety from those manning the stalls. The festival was also a platform to break barriers and to prove that it is for you and me too, not just the one who knows how to paint and the one who understands the language of the colour and brush.
Bangalore-based software engineer Sheera Betang was one of the exhibitors. She has no formal training in art, but her work talks of what passions are made of. “I just wanted to paint. I was a regular fixture at most of the art galleries in the City. I would spend hours together talking to the artists on their work. That’s how I learnt to paint,” said Sheera.

Mufeed and Basith, both students at Oxford College, are not trained either, but they are tattoo artists. With imagination and innovation as their tools, these two young men set out on their journey of promoting their in-born artistic talent. “We are just here to have fun. We use acrylic to paint. We buy the paper ourselves. We are interested in art and hence we set out,” said Mufeed. And as for the sudden showers on Monday evening, it did not dampen the spirit of either the artists or the Bangalorean who wanted to take a stroll on the arty stretch.