The tone of stone: how RMZ Foundation promotes public art through this sculpture symposium

In this two-part photo essay, we feature works in progress and completed works from the National Sculpture Symposium, along with insights from Anu Menda, Managing Trustee, RMZ Foundation.

PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 275 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

The RMZ EcoWorld business park at Bellandur, Bengaluru features an outstanding Art Centre comprising of The Gallery, a Sustainable Art Pavilion, and the Art Walk. See our earlier photo essays on art installations at RMZ EcoWorld, and the print-making workshop held earlier this year.

The RMZ Foundation’s Accentuate Art program focused this month on the practice of monumental sculpture. At an open site in Bellandur, a group of 14 artists came together to create unique sculptures and engage with the art community, as shown in Part I of this photo essay. Part II features more sculptures, along with artist insights.

The artist line-up includes George Martin, Gigi Scaria, Gopinath S, Hariprasad SD, Karl Antao, Lalitha Shankar, Madan Lal Gupta, Rajendar Tiku, Rajasekharan Nair, Shanthamani Muddaiah, Srinivas Reddy, Trupti Patel, Vinod Patel, and Vivek Vilasini.

“The National Sculpture Symposium is intended to create an opportunity for artists to discuss ideas and new techniques, a space where onlookers can interact with artists, and a platform for the next generation of artists to learn sculpting techniques,” explained Anu Menda, Managing Trustee, RMZ Foundation, in a chat with YourStory. Advisors for the project include curator Premilla Baid and artist Gopinath S.

“Outdoor art compels attention. Irrespective of our understanding and appreciation of the medium, public art gives us the opportunity to interact intimately with the pieces,” Anu adds. The Indian art scene has been evolving, and sustaining it has been one of the foundation’s objectives.

“We do aspire to make art accessible to the public at large. We receive a lot of requests and appreciation from our business park members, art fraternities, and other foundations,” Anu says. The EcoWorld gallery reportedly obtains a footfall of about a thousand visitors every week.

The completed sculptures from this year’s symposium will be exhibited at RMZ spaces in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai. “The endeavour is to have many such multi-sensory art installations in our assets over the next four to five years,” Anu says; future plans include taking Accentuate Art to the global art scene.

The Gallery, a space of around 9,000 square feet, houses art shows, talks, screenings, and workshops throughout the year. For earlier initiatives, the Art Centre teamed up with Srishti Design School as knowledge partner to engage with younger artists.

“An artist’s journey is exceptionally inspirational. There are countless struggles on their path to being celebrated and established. Their journey has to be supported to create exposure and opportunities to make a difference in society. RMZ Foundation aims at creating a platform for artists of every calibre to be a part of a greater vision,” Anu signs off.

Now what have you done today to step out of your hectic schedule, appreciate the natural and human creativity around you, and support the art movement?

[Photo credits: Madanmohan Rao and Mallikarjun Katakol ]

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