National Exhibition of Art Hosts 111 Exhibits by Eminent Artists at NGMA, Bengaluru

A Press Meet was hosted by Lalit Kala Akademi, India’s National Academy of Art to announce the 58^th National Exhibition of Art, which is being held at National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru from Friday, February 24^, 2017 and will continue for a month.

To reflect its truly national character the National Exhibition of Art is customarily held in various cities of the country so as to give the interested public in these cities a chance to savor quality production.

It has returned to Bengaluru after a lapse of 16 years, as the last time it was held here was in 2001, at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru.

The current exhibition has 111 exhibits chosen from 6000 works through a competitive process, of these 15 have been conferred the Academy’s National Award. The award is much coveted among artists as it earmarks the future potential of the individual artist in the art community and many of the earlier awardees, such as M F Husain and SH Raza, are today’s icons of Indian art.

The works for the 58^th National Exhibition of Art have been chosen on grounds of their artistic merit. They reflect innovative use of mediums, diversity and relevance of subject matter as also a high level of creativity.

CS Krishna Setty, Administrator, Lalit Kala Akademi remarked: ‘Besides upholding and steering forth a great tradition of giving Indian art its due importance, the National Exhibition of Art is also a window view into future trends in Indian art. The works of the awardees have expressed a spectacular range of subjects to express their creative abilities and carry in them an unwritten history of development, emerging trends and even influences that have pivoted the art movement of the country.’

The award presentation to be held on the of February 24^, 2017 at Hotel Shangri – La, Bengaluru will have  Governor of Karnataka, Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala conferring the National Academy Award to 15 Awardees.

The Award ceremony coincides with the opening of a month-long National Exhibition of Art being held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru, comprising the 111 selected artworks, of the 58^th National Exhibition of Art. The display is open to the public on all working days, except Mondays.

The Awardees have been choosen by a Two Tier Jury system of eminent artists and art personalities who in the first stage had selected 111 artworks which are now on display at the national exhibition.

The members of the First Tier Selection Jury consisted of Anandmoy Banerji, Kanchan Chander, Harshvardhan Sharma, Nalini Malaviya, and Vijay Bagodi. Thereafter, the second jury selected 15 National Awardees from the cache of 111 exhibitors, for conferring the National Academy Award. The members of the Award Jury consisted of Adwaita Gadanayak, Chandranath Acharya K., Prof. Pranam Singh, Yusuf, Venkatachalapathi. Each of the Awardees will receive a plaque and a cash award of Rs 1 lakh, along with a certificate.

As a follow-up of the said exhibition, a number of ancillary art activities are also arranged simultaneously, of which a National Art Conclave meet is the highlight. This meet provides the said artists a platform for interaction through slide shows of their works, lectures, demonstrations and other means. This year, the National Art Conclave is scheduled to be held on Saturday, February 25, 2017, at 11.00 a.m. at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru. Siddaramaiah, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka, will inaugurate the Conclave. The Guests of Honour at the said function include Anjolie Ela Menon, the eminent artist, and Dr. B L Shankar, President, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru.