Chitra Santhe 2020: celebrating 17 years of India’s favourite street festival for art

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 425 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 17th edition of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath’s annual Chitra Santhe ('painting fair') is being held today at Kumara Krupa Road in Bengaluru. With the entire road sealed off to traffic, the festival features over 1,300 artists this year and is estimated to draw around four lakh visitors.

Artworks are priced from Rs 100 to Rs 10 lakh, according to the organisers. See our coverage of five earlier editions of Chitra Santhe, along with artist insights: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Held by tradition on the first Sunday of the New Year, the current edition of the festival is dedicated to farmers. Since 2003, the festival has been celebrating traditional and contemporary art and making it accessible to the public, according to CKP President BL Shankar.

Bringing art out of galleries and museums to fairs and streets brings it to broader audiences. Awards are also being given this year, to bring recognition to outstanding contributors of the art movement. As shown in this photo essay, the artists feature a range of media, including installations and paintings in watercolour, oil, acrylic, ink, resin, glass, wire, charcoal, pencil, and crayon.

At Gandhi Bhavan, there is a ‘gram swaraj’ exhibition themed on the rural lifestyle of farmers. CKP will also bring the India Art Fair to Bengaluru on April 24-25 this year. It has been held only in Delhi and Mumbai in the past.

The artist lineup includes Nagaraj Hanehalli, Kanchan Rathna, V. Pugalenthi, Rupesh Sonar, Shaik Arif, Divya Kallu, Gazal Roongta, Sanjay Shyam, Kaushik Hegde, Divya Uday, Charita Dasappa, M. Savithru, Nitin Pawar, J Jaiganesh, Vishwas Bhat, Reshma AK, Bharat Bhushan, Nikitha BK, and Manisha Mohnani.

From 8 am to 8 pm, art lovers will be treated to a range of artworks from over 10 states across India. An expert committee shortlisted these 1,300 artists from over 2,600 applicants.

In the next editions of PhotoSparks, we will share more highlights from the artworks on display, along with artist interviews and insights. YourStory thanks all the artists for their brilliant work, and the festival volunteers for pulling off such a colourful and inspiring event!

Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and explore the artistic talent spread across your city?

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.

ALSO READ

[Year in Review 2019] Top quotes of the year on the beauty, importance, and practice of art

ALSO READ

How this Delhi-based organisation is helping children find their voice through art