[Photo Sparks] Bangalore as creative cauldron: blending traditional and modern, established and emerging artists!

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation! Entrepreneurship flourishes when large corporates as well as small startups co-exist. Creativity thrives when large institutions and small cafes celebrate the work of established and emerging artists, and when traditional and modern art co-exist. Cities like Bangalore are good examples of such emerging hubs with strengths not just in domains like IT but in art as well.

The sprawling campus of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore recently hosted a terrific collection of paintings, photographs and sculptures by eminent artists spanning over a century: Jamini Roy, Arpana Caur, Anjolie Ela Menon, George Keyt, Georges Gaste, Anil Kumar, G. Ravinder Reddy and Piraji Sagara (some of the images here have been provided by NGMA). At the other end of town, the new cozy Choco Jumbo cafe in Koramangala showcased the work of Ishara Ish, a young artist who makes creative works out of discarded magazines, cans, bottles and plastic spoons.

Artistes and entrepreneurs frame and seize opportunity in unusual ways, and can convey messages of inspiration, respect for nature and social justice through their creative works – as showcased in our photo essay this week!

In the earlier 40 posts, we brought you a wide range of creative photographs from an art fair, world music festival, painting fair, telecom expo, art museum, mobile showcase, math museum, social hackathon, bookstore, co-working space, sensorium, lantern festival, international design week, flower show, outdoor ads, startup roadshow, computer museum, startup T-shirts, business cards, art therapy, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, jazz festival, ecopreneurs, painter-poets, health activists, eNGOs and digital innovators.

The world is not ‘flat’ but ‘spiky’ with the emergence of mega-regions around a few dozen key cities in the world. These hubs are where new ideas, new technology and new creative content are emerging, and becoming attractive clusters for people to work, live, learn and play.

Nurturing multiple intelligences and creativity outlets helps cities build holistic advantage in the knowledge economy of the 21st century, according to Richard Florida, author of thought-proving books such as ‘Rise of the Creative Class,’ ‘Who’s Your City’ and ‘Cities and the Creative Class.’ Creativity is becoming an important ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ aspect of the workforce, and creative clusters grow well if they are home to ‘tolerance, talent and technology,’ Florida says.

Got a creative photograph to share? Email us at [email protected]!

See also the YourStory pocketbook ‘Proverbs and Quotes for Entrepreneurs: A World of Inspiration for Startups,’ accessible as apps for Apple and Android devices.