<p>Art Bengaluru 2013’ was a treat for art enthusiasts, who got a glimpse of the works of over 100 artists from 17 galleries. The 4th edition of this week-long extravaganza was organised by The Collection, UB City, along with Sublime Galleria and Art Chutney.<br /><br /></p>.<p>An additional feature this year was ‘Berserk’, a residential conference for school children to encourage them to take up performing arts. As a conclusion to it, the families of the participating children were invited on the closing night. <br /><br />A high-energy Bollywood performance by renowned salsa dancer Sneha Kapoor of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa fame and a salsa performance by the Pro team of the Lourd Vijay Dance Studio got the audience grooving. A witty monologue by Rebecca Spurgeon of ‘Damini the Damager’ fame by Gautam Raja and a kalari performance by kalari master Nikhil Varagiri, who has been trained in the Hindustan Kalari Sangam, were the highlights of the evening. <br /><br />A live-wire performance by Taaqademy was much appreciated by the audience. The performers included Varun (lead and rhythm guitarist of Swaratma), Vibhas (drummer, eccentric pendulum), Archana (faculty at Taaqademy and Shankar Mahadevan institute of Music), Pradeep (music graduate from Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music) and Snehal (ex-band member of Galeej Gurus, ‘Parachute XVI’ and base player of ‘Voodoo Gas’).<br /><br />A live painting session by artist Mahesh Pattar awed the audience — he painted Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait on stage within seven minutes.<br /><br />The week came to a close with a Luxury Art auction, which was the highlight of ‘Art Bengaluru’. The finale saw masters, contemporaries and emerging artists be a part of the auction. With prices ranging from a few thousands to many lakhs, the works were very much in demand. <br /><br />Giving the auction an international feel, the evening was hosted by London-based auctioneer, Bob Hayton. <br /><br />The participants whose works were up for auction included artists like Jamini Roy, Francis Newton Souza, Ram Kumar and SG Vasudev. A few of the emerging artists participating in the auction were N Ramachandram, Yati Jaiswal, Parvathi Nayar, Ritu Kamath, Avijit Dutta, Suchit Sahni and Vikash Kalra. Tribal artist Sandhya Arvind also took part. Artist Ritu Kamath from Delhi, whose work was up for auction, said that the art market is still growing in Bangalore.<br /><br /> “The market in Bangalore is relatively new since people are slowly becoming aware of art. However, they still look out for traditional art forms. On the other hand, the Delhi market is opening up to new media and contemporary art,” she opined. <br /><br />Uzma Irfan, co-founder of ‘Art Bengaluru’, felt that Indian art has been gaining value globally lately. <br /><br /> “Investment in art is now giving steady competition to other more typical forms of financial investment. Experts believe that the Indian art market is on a growth trajectory as an increasing number of people are turning to art, either to collect or to invest in,” she said.<br /></p>
<p>Art Bengaluru 2013’ was a treat for art enthusiasts, who got a glimpse of the works of over 100 artists from 17 galleries. The 4th edition of this week-long extravaganza was organised by The Collection, UB City, along with Sublime Galleria and Art Chutney.<br /><br /></p>.<p>An additional feature this year was ‘Berserk’, a residential conference for school children to encourage them to take up performing arts. As a conclusion to it, the families of the participating children were invited on the closing night. <br /><br />A high-energy Bollywood performance by renowned salsa dancer Sneha Kapoor of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa fame and a salsa performance by the Pro team of the Lourd Vijay Dance Studio got the audience grooving. A witty monologue by Rebecca Spurgeon of ‘Damini the Damager’ fame by Gautam Raja and a kalari performance by kalari master Nikhil Varagiri, who has been trained in the Hindustan Kalari Sangam, were the highlights of the evening. <br /><br />A live-wire performance by Taaqademy was much appreciated by the audience. The performers included Varun (lead and rhythm guitarist of Swaratma), Vibhas (drummer, eccentric pendulum), Archana (faculty at Taaqademy and Shankar Mahadevan institute of Music), Pradeep (music graduate from Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music) and Snehal (ex-band member of Galeej Gurus, ‘Parachute XVI’ and base player of ‘Voodoo Gas’).<br /><br />A live painting session by artist Mahesh Pattar awed the audience — he painted Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait on stage within seven minutes.<br /><br />The week came to a close with a Luxury Art auction, which was the highlight of ‘Art Bengaluru’. The finale saw masters, contemporaries and emerging artists be a part of the auction. With prices ranging from a few thousands to many lakhs, the works were very much in demand. <br /><br />Giving the auction an international feel, the evening was hosted by London-based auctioneer, Bob Hayton. <br /><br />The participants whose works were up for auction included artists like Jamini Roy, Francis Newton Souza, Ram Kumar and SG Vasudev. A few of the emerging artists participating in the auction were N Ramachandram, Yati Jaiswal, Parvathi Nayar, Ritu Kamath, Avijit Dutta, Suchit Sahni and Vikash Kalra. Tribal artist Sandhya Arvind also took part. Artist Ritu Kamath from Delhi, whose work was up for auction, said that the art market is still growing in Bangalore.<br /><br /> “The market in Bangalore is relatively new since people are slowly becoming aware of art. However, they still look out for traditional art forms. On the other hand, the Delhi market is opening up to new media and contemporary art,” she opined. <br /><br />Uzma Irfan, co-founder of ‘Art Bengaluru’, felt that Indian art has been gaining value globally lately. <br /><br /> “Investment in art is now giving steady competition to other more typical forms of financial investment. Experts believe that the Indian art market is on a growth trajectory as an increasing number of people are turning to art, either to collect or to invest in,” she said.<br /></p>