MANY TAKERS: A file picture of last year's Chitra Santhe on Kumara Krupa Road in Bangalore. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: This "santhe" has become an annual event in the city. You may spend a few hundreds or thousands and can walk back with what could even become a collector's item years from now.

Fourth year

Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath will have its Chitra Santhe for the fourth year on December 31 from morning till late evening. All along Kumara Krupa Road — from near Sivananda Circle till the entrance to the Chief Minister's official residence — it will be a row of stalls, exhibiting works of art and sculpture of mostly young artists, a good number from outside Karnataka.

Chitrakala Parishath administrator L. Shanthakumari says, "We expect and will arrange space for about a thousand artists, besides stalls for our students. For the first time, the students are also being encouraged to exhibit and sell their works. Committees, mostly of volunteers, have been formed to look after all arrangements, including accommodation for artists from outside Bangalore."

Traffic blocked

The road will be partly blocked to traffic for the event, which aims to bring "art for everyone at affordable prices". Works will range from traditional Mysore paintings to the abstract and from every school in between.

On-the-spot portrait

You can even commission an on-the-spot portrait if you have the time and inclination.

According to Chitrakala Parishath principal Ajitkumar Dubey, "Only Kolkata has a similar event for artists and art lovers but is limited in scale compared to Bangalore's. Last year, the artists must have sold works amounting to a few lakhs of rupees and there are more people ready to invest in works of art now."

Funding

Funding for the show will come partly from the Government and donors, mostly collectors of art and from the Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will inaugurate the event on Sunday morning.

The last Sunday of every December is chosen to hold Chitra Santhe and this time it just happens to be New Year Eve.

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