In
a country of rich cultural diversity and skill there are, ironically, very few
institutions working actively for the promotion of Arts and providing support
and giving a platform to artists to showcase their works. However, even amongst
the obvious scarcity of people working to promote the Arts, there are
institutions like the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore which not only provides a literal
space for artists to showcase their work but is one of the first institutions
to set up a degree course in Fine Arts.
Established
and opened on June 25, 1976, the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath is located in
the very heart of Bangalore.
It houses a unique collection of traditional paintings, leather puppets and
artefacts of Karnataka. It also has a graphic studio, sculpture studio and an
open-air theatre. The paintings are created using different mediums like Oil on
Canvas, Watercolours, Mixed Media, Etching, Lithography etc. Each work of art
is categorised individually, displaying the name of the artist, media used,
cost and size of the canvas. There are a number of exhibition halls on the
first floor of the Parishath, which include the Roerich and Kejriwal gallery.
The paintings of Nicholas Roerich have been placed in two different galleries
called Roerich I and II.
Majority
of the works displayed are by the students of the Chitrakala Parishath. The
institution offers a Bachelor in Fine Arts (B.F.A) for Painting, Sculpture, Art
History and Print Making. A Master in Fine Arts (M.F.A) is also offered. It is
one of the very few institutions offering a degree course in Fine Arts.
The
Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath is a rich storehouse of folk and traditional
paintings. The spacious galleries constantly display the finest in contemporary
Indian Art, the open-air theatre is active space for the performing arts and the
Parishath has constantly cultivated art events like artist camps, etc. It a
truly global gallery giving artists a much-needed platform, with not only
well-known artists from India but also from abroad choosing to exhibit their
work here.
The
Chitrakala Parishat is open to the public on all days between 10.00 AM and 5.00
PM. However, the Parishath's personal collections, including the Roerich and
Kejriwal Galleries, are closed daily between 2 to 3 pm.
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