Discovery and delight: how this art exhibition showcases creative talent from India and Indonesia

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory Media, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 515 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.

Curated by MayinArt, the exhibition Discover the Undiscovered is wrapping up in Singapore this week. It showcases contemporary Indian and Indonesian art, which share some common threads of warmth, sensitivity and energy.

With permission from MayinArt, PhotoSparks reproduces works by the following artists in this article: Humera Ali, Shan Re, Romicon Revola, Abhijit Paul, Soumya Kishor Chakraborty, At Sitompul, M ihsan, Agus Putu Suyadnya, I Made Sutarjaya, and Adha Widhayansyah.

MayinArt was founded by Krish Datta and Avik Bandyopadhyay as a platform to showcase Indian and Southeast Asian art. See also YourStory’s earlier photo essays on art festivals, museums and galleries in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Avik Bandyopadhyay was formerly an IT executive with Tech Mahindra, and switched tracks to pursue his love for art.

“It all started in the interiors of Indonesia. There we found talented artists, but with limited resources to market their work. We spotted an opportunity and launched MayinArt as a curated online platform for art, and then included Indian art,” Avik explains, in a chat with YourStory.

“Currently, we have 140 artists with more than 2,000 artworks in our platform, with new artists being added every month. Buyers have approached us from across the US, the UK, Canada, Philippines, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, Indonesia, India, and Singapore,” Avik proudly says.

The artworks are priced from a few hundred dollars up to around $3,000. Some of the artworks are on sale at The American Club in Singapore as part of the current exhibition.

MayinArt is based in Singapore, and Avik shuttles between Kolkata and Singapore. “Our team is mainly remote – working from all parts of Southeast Asia,” he adds.

“Indonesia, with over 270 million people and thousands of years of history, has been producing great art. There are cultural connections to India, such as artistic depictions of characters from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata in Indonesian art,” Avik explains.

“Art creates positive energy, uplifts the space where it is displayed, and often becomes the highlight of your house,” he enthuses.

In Part II of this interview, Avik shares more of his personal “back story” and plans for his artistic journey ahead.

Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and find new avenues to explore your creative core?

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