A colour-splashed potpourri of paintings, sketches, caricature, body art, and more was on display at the 15th street art festival of Bengaluru – Chitra Santhe 2018. Organised by Karnataka Chitrakala Parisath, it is a much awaited one-day art carnival with more than 1,500 artists participating from all over India.
Held on January 7, 2018, the fair attracted thousands of art aficionados from every corner of the city. For the first timers, the fest was overwhelming with its infinite display of abstract art, charcoal sketch, traditional paintings and portraits to name a few.
Inaugurated by renowned scientist and Bharat Ratna awardee Dr C N R Rao, Chitra Santhe was spread across Kumara Krupa Road and its adjoining streets, where traffic had been prohibited throughout the day for the convenience of visitors.
Apart from Karnataka, artists from West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Bihar were seen exhibiting their colourful canvasses on the streets.
The Parisath also featured differently abled artists’ works at this year’s festival. Amongst the body of work, pottery was the newest addition to the 2018 fete.
Touted as the biggest art fest of Bengaluru, Chitra Santhe 2018 was an endless visual fiesta. What was interesting to note was that, it wasn’t a gallery-centric painting exhibition. Nor was the audience built up entirely by intellectuals or professionals.
However, the impressive quality and the unimaginable diversity was something I had never seen before. The fest provided a unique opportunity to both professionals and amateur artists to showcase their creativity through a fair platform.
I was pleasantly surprised by the vibrance of this street carnival; Chitra Santhe is truly a celebration of all kinds of art.
(The writer is a Bengaluru-based blogger and is a former reporter, Times Of India.)
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