HYDERABAD: Hosted at the Taj Banjara, the workshop will see the likes of established artists including Gouri Shankar, Narendra Rai, Karoona Murthy, Bairu Raghuram and B A Reddy. Speaking at the event, president of the foundation and curator for the the workshop, S M Hussain said, “The workshop is an initiative to bring out the veteran artists and the younger budding artists together in a cultural exchange.Art in Hyderabad, and for that matter in the State, goes widely unrecognised.We hope this workshop, which is a beginning to many, will go a long way in bridging the gap between those who appreciate art and the artists.” Th e Padmashre e awardee began the ceremonies by giving away floral tokens to the 23 artists who were invited for the workshop, following which each of the artists autographed a single canvas.Talking about the initiative, he said, “Art has always been there, but people have been largely ignorant of it.The media hasn’t been very supportive either.There is a lot of hype around performing arts, but when it comes to visual arts, there is barely anything.In that context, a workshop like this gives people the opportunity to see the artists at work and truly appreciate their effort.” Agreeing, homegrown artist B A Reddy opines, “The problem is at the grass root level.For the past 27 years, there hasn’t been a proper art teacher at any of the government schools.When there is no awareness created at the primary level, how can one expect our society to appreciate it later on.Our men are only interested in lands and women in jewellery.Art is for the few.” Despite the abysmal situation art is in, the city is a proud host to quite a few prominent art galleries.However, they receive an average foot fall of maybe five a day.“Galleries are naturally not going to admit to it, but the footfall isn’t very encouraging.And being an artist is an expensive affair.We hope to provide a sustainable situation for them,” commented Hussain.To that affect, the Deccan Art Foundation has tied up with the Taj Banjara to display their art collection in selected corridors and lobbies for their guests to see and pick up.Catalogues have left around like coffee table books for those interested.The All India Art camp will continue till February 25 at the Taj Banjara, culminating in an exhibition and sale of the artworks at the Mehfil-Majlis at the hotel itself from 4 to 9 pm.For further details, log onto www.deccanartgallery.com.
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