Chitra Santhe is back. And this time, it’s bigger and better. So say the masterminds of this grand art festival organised by Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (CKP) on its grounds annually. This Santhe will be held on January 29 between 9am and 8pm.

With the theme, ‘Art for all’, the ninth edition of Chitra Santhe will showcase work of 1,500 artists and is expected to have close to 3lakh art-lovers visiting to explore and buy art from all over India.

“Through Chitra Santhe, we aim to familiarise the society and make art available and affordable for everyone. Artists from rural areas as well as those who haven’t yet got a launch pad will have the right opportunity to exhibit and sell their work,” said CN Rudrappa, CKP’s chief administrative officer.

This year, CKP is also organising a special ‘invited art show’ for CKP alumni and teachers who are art practitioners, said Tejendra Singh Baoni, principal of College of Fine Arts. “At least 100 artworks will be exhibited at CKP’s main galleries and will be up for sale. Last year, too, we had showcased some, but this year it will be on a larger scale,” Baoni said.

Apart from a nominal application fee of Rs100, artists who will be exhibiting their work for sale will not be charged for the space or facilities provided to them. They also do not have to pay the organisers revenue from the work they sell—perhaps the key reason why countless artists vie to participate in this art carnival.

“Whatever the artists sell and earn is their own. We don’t claim even an iota of it,” said Rudrappa.

Santhe is an expensive affair for CKP though. This edition will cost it `9 lakh and this amount has already been raised. While `3 lakh came from the department of culture, Rs1.5 lakh from the application fee alone; the rest came from various sponsors.

“Most artists will be arriving on January 28 and leaving on January 30. So we have arranged accommodation and food for them at the Centre For Youth and Cultural Development, Okalipuram, for two days,” Rudrappa said.

The number of applicants was huge this time, but due to space constraint CKP has allotted exhibiting space for just 1,500 artists.

This is besides the artists who would take part in the invited show. “Artists from West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu etc besides Karnataka applied this time. But this year, we introduced a screening procedure for the applicants. A committee scrutinised their works beforehand to make sure that they are not copies and that they are genuine art and not craft. Around 150 applicants were rejected by the committee,” said HA Anil Kumar, art historian and teacher at CKP.

Chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda, BBMP commissioner Shankarlinge Gowda, MP PC Mohan and artist BKS Varma will be among chief guests at the festival.

Source: DNA, Jan 12, 2012