Bangalore art promoters are offering a home to budding artists to nurture their creativity.
Pulitzer Prize winner, poet, novelist, art and literary critic, John Updike has said, “What art offers is space, a certain breathing room for the spirit.” Taking heart to this are art promoters in the city who are offering a home to budding artists to nurture their creative talent and guiding their body of work in the right direction. Shujaat Abrar, founder of Habitart, an artists’ residency and gallery space in the city, is working actively towards helping artists find their voice in the creative community.
The artist residency programmes aim to support resident artists in their exploration and professional growth, within an aesthetic and intellectually stimulating environment. The initiative at Habitart, which started mid last year, invites promising talent from the country to reside at their facility with expenses paid, creating their body of work on a platform that allows creative freedom and thought. “It is an effort at social entrepreneurship to give artists the right platform to interact with art lovers, connoisseurs, discuss their vision and ideas,” offers Shujaat.
This initiative took off, Shujaat explains, when he realised the need to help artists carry their work forward. “A lot of talent goes waste, because artists sometimes don’t know the worth of their work, or don’t highlight it at proper forums or aren’t aggressive enough to promote their work.” To tackle these challenges, artists while at Habitart are mentored, provided art material and a roof over their head, while their work is put out for the world to see. However, with budding artists by the minute, selecting the right talent is crucial to the programme, says Shujaat.
“There are numerous applications and selecting the right ones for the resident programme can be a task,” he offers, adding that the process is based on the background of the artists, understating their career goals, suggestions from art scholars and buyers. The duration of the artist’s stay can span from a few days to months, depending on how much time they want to or can spend at the facility.
Art Addressed
1 Shanthi Road, a space that has been hosting local and international artists for over eight years now, also offers art residency programmes in the city. The studio and gallery partners with Khoj International Artist Association and is supported by the Navajbhai Ratan Tata Trust for a programme that focuses on a collaboration between South Asian artists.
Their international residency programme, which is paid for by participating artists has seen talent from different parts of the globe. “Our German artist residency programme supported by the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan is very popular and sees almost 150 applications, while our South Asian programme has 25 on an average,” says Suresh Jayaram, founder and director of 1 Shanthi Road. The prerequisite to be a part of the residency programmes at this facility are alternative, cutting-edge work, emphasises Jayaram, adding that budding art work that challenges norms that can turn things upside down with its edgy thought, forms the basis of selection for artist residency programme at the studio.
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