Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVI No. 21, February 16-28, 2017
Art in the park
by Vincent D’Souza
Illustrator and social activist Nithya Balaji liked what she had bought at Art Mart on a Sunday afternoon. A water colour of a temple in South Tamil Nadu.
She had stopped at one of the 69 stalls put up by artists taking part in this annual event held recently at Nageswara Rao Park in Luz. And she was impressed with the young artist from Kumbakonam.
“I asked him to select for me the work he had done at the spot,” Nithya said later.
“We must buy for that is the best way to encourage artists.”
Which is the sole intention of Art Mart, and an idea that germinated to follow the annual Pongal Mylapore Festival.
Added that evening, the Rajkumars (Lathamani runs a art school in CIT Nagar and her husband markets Camlin from Mumbai), who has a bought a couple of paintings, “This encourages artists. It lights them up”.
For many a artist, some from Pondicherry and Kumbakonam and Neyveli, Art Mart was a fair they welcomed.
Yes, the sun beat down on a bald park, shorn of its green by Cyclone Vardah, but as lunch of puliyogare and vadais supplied by Shantha of Mylapore was served, the artists crowded under the shade of bamboo and palms.
It was family and friends bonding.
Artist Aarthi Rao, a full-time doctor brought along her husband, father, in-laws and more to her stall; they helped to set up her works, pass the tiffin of idli-s and spicy podi around and entertain their guests.
Said medical volunteer and trainer Preetha Rengaswamy, pausing during her morning walk in the park,“Its good to see family and friends deeply involved in many stalls. Says a lot for the spirit around.”
At 4 that evening, Luz Buzz, that creative nook carved near the Marrybrown restaurant on Luz Church Road got abuzzed, 23 children sat down to take part in a painting contest. Eight of them has come from Ponneri with their teachers.
The art works were then hung along the wall of a bungalow nearby for a snappy exhibition.
For Akshay Sreekrishna, studying in Standard IX in Nagapattinam, this was a beginning of sorts. Encouraged by his parents, he displayed his artworks; he even sold a few. He said he didn’t know how to react to this, since he had to part with his work.
Another school student from Kovilpatti, Mukilan S., and his parents were overwhelmed with the interaction of senior artists with him. He too sold a few.
Two senior alumni from the 1970s of the College of Fine Arts, Jothi and Venkat, displayed their ‘realistic’ works side by side. It was a warm reunion for them as well as their many friends who visited the fair.
Well-known artist and illustrator Maruthi visited the fair, interacted with each and every artist. “This is like my own family function and I cannot miss it,” he said. (Courtesy Mylapore Times).
