The National Gallery of Modern Art, the huge architectural landmark on Palace Road, had donned a festive look recently.
The reason being, a birthday celebration.
The gallery, having completed three successful years of giving Bangaloreans a taste
of original art, wasn’t going to let its birthday pass by in a hush.
And the celebrations this time around were meant for everybody, including kids, who took the opportunity to be initiated into the arts.
There were three parts to this celebration — a gallery treasure hunt, a clay-modelling workshop and an art quiz. The gallery treasure hunt or the ‘Mobile Artist Trail’, as it was called, was a unique way of letting adults and children experiment with art.
An SMS game, it required the participants to send a coded message to the provided number. This was followed by a text web that would send out 14 clues to the participants, each of which had its answer hidden in the gallery section, Manikyavelu Mansion.
Participants browsed the two floors of the gallery to answer the series of questions, with three chances to answer each of them. Art enthusiasts of all age groups, including a bunch of children, were seen scampering around the gallery for clues through the works on the walls.
The second part of the celebrations included a clay-modelling workshop, where participants and lovers of craft were taught the basics of modelling with clay and making small objects for utility and home decor.
The room was abuzz with ideas and people closely watched the swift movements in clay, of the two instructors.
While Manikyavelu Mansion was full with activity, the rest of the complex seemed quite untouched by the celebrations.
It was towards the end of this three-hour long celebration that an art quiz was conducted. It brought out the competitive spirit in many participants and turned into a healthy platform for discussions on art.