The Hindu : Helping artists widen their canvas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Oct 20, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Helping artists widen their canvas

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE OCT. 19. Khoj 2002, a workshop that brings together artists of national and international repute, was inaugurated here on Saturday. Twenty-three reputable and budding artists are participating in the workshop being organised for the first time outside Delhi, its venue in the past five years.

Organised by artists for their peers, the 14-day workshop helps those from diverse cultures and backgrounds exchange ideas, encounter various artistic methods and approaches, and experiment. Participants include those from the U.K., Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, and Nigeria.

According to a press release, the workshop is being organised to encourage experimentation by providing an environment that stimulates artistic exploration and networks with artists all over the world, and to put Mysore and Bangalore on the international art map. Debate within the public realm about diverse art streams will be initiated, and local talent will be given international exposure.

The participating artists will hold discussions and give presentations on contemporary issues. Video screenings and debates would also be held. A review of the workshop will be presented at a seminar on "Photography as contemporary media for artistic expression" in Bangalore on November 3.

To channel the educative and socially interactive possibilities of the workshop, November 1 will be observed as Open Studio Day to help local artists, students, and others view the art works produced during the workshop. Cultural personalities from fine art and other faculties will be invited to interact with the artists.

N.S. Harsha, a Khoj 2002 member, told The Hindu that the artists had been selected in such a way that a wider canvas that blended culture and experience would be thrown up. Under the outreach programme planned during the workshop, artists would visit schools, hospitals, orphanages, and old-age homes. Three artists living outside the countries of their origin had been selected under the diaspora section.

The artists from abroad are Amy Plant (U.K.), Mahbubur Rahman (Bangladesh), Giscle Amantea (Canada), Carla Guagliardi (Brazil/Germany), Michel Tuffery (New Zealand), Mandy Ridley (Australia), Chang Yoong Chia (Malaysia), Sarath Kumarasiri (Sri Lanka), Jacob Jari (Nigeria), Christoph Storz (Switzerland/India), Mayura Subedar (India/Amsterdam).

Those from India are Hema Upadhyay, Reena Saini, Sureka, N.N. Rimzon, Ranbir Kaleka, H.K. Dwarkanath, Biju Joseph, Vijay Bagodi, Smitha Cariappa, Babu Ishwar Prasad, and Shambavi.

Khoj is an Indian experiment of the triangle workshop organised in New York State in the U.S. in 1982 by Sir Anthony Caro and Robert Loder. Many such workshops in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Senegal, the U.K., and Jamaica took inspiration from it.

The experiment in South Africa initiated by the participants of the triangle workshop brought together artists of different backgrounds and regions during apartheid.

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Helping artists widen their canvas