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Regional news THE TRIBUNE
Monday, December 21, 1998
 


Art gallery inaugurated

CHANDIGARH: It was a different evening, full of arty seriousness and glamour of the creamy circle. The occasion was the inauguration of a new art gallery in the city. It is called Art Folio — the Centre for Arts.

The first of private art galleries to come up in Chandigarh, it has been sponsored by the Winsome Foundation for the Arts and is the brainchild of Dr Alka Pande.

Located in Sector 9, it has been designed by Namita Singh. It provides the right ambience for discussions and activities related to arts. Along with the exhibiting space, it also gives access to books on art. It also has a cafe and an open air theatre. The main idea is to lend it an informal air where any art lover feels free to come and express himself.

The centre aims to encourage multi-disciplinary activities, workshops, poetry reading, film appreciation, music and dance, painting, sculpture, photography, prints and graphics etc.

The centre for its inaugural show had invited works of eminent artists from all over the country. There are in all 58 paintings put up in the gallery. And the chief guest was the painter, sculptor and architect who has put India on the international map in the arena of art. Yes, it was none other than the legendary Satish Gujral.

In his opinion, "the present art scene in the country is very lively. It is growing and artists are interested in finding a national identity. They are trying to do it in a very original and individual way".

According to Gujral, the reason for Indian artists not making it big in the international market is an undue interest about making it big in the international scene. Any art which has not got national roots cannot get international acceptance. If any artist tries to do it the other way round, he knows what is going to happen. "His advice for the budding artists is "try to be yourself as this is going to help you find your national roots".

The inauguration was followed by a dance presentation by Raja Reddy, Radha Reddy, Kaushalya Reddy, Sharon Lowen, and Shovana Narayan. It was choreographed by Naresh Kapuria.

— Priti Verma