167 DNA 20th Febraury 2013

Housing Art

The art gallery landscape in the city gets a new addition in the form of the India House Art Gallery. Founder and curator of the gallery, Ramprasad Akkiseti speaks to After Hrs about this one is different from the others in the city.

Pune is a quite the art hub, as is evi- dent by its thriving art scene and the numerous galleries that have mush- roomed all over the city. Last week, another name was added to the ever- growing list of galleries — the India House Art Gallery.

Situated on the outskirts of Pune at Balewadi, the India House Art Gallery is bigger and more spa- cious compared to the others in the city and is built by master architect Christopher Benninger. “The design of the gallery showcases the spirit and brilliance of the great architect. The USP of India House Art Gallery is that it is an exclusive one, solely created for the purpose of display- ing artworks,” says Ramprasad Ak- kisetti, the founder of the art gallery, who also runs a big architectural firm called Christopher Charles Be- ninger Architects (CCBA). He adds that the art house seeks to introduce art connoisseurs to works that are of international quality.

A brainchild of Ramprasad and his associates at CCBA, the art gal- lery begins its innings with an ex- hibition titled Desh Ki Awaoz, that displays creations of renowned artists from all across the country, such as Shankar Lal Bhopa, Santosh Sharma, Satinder Singh, Rajendra Phulwari, Tarachand Nagar, Vinod Kumar Solanki, Birju Lal Bhopa, Radhay Shyam Sherma, Kirori Mal, Ghansham and graphic artists like Arup Giri, Siddharth Mitra and Kol- lins Matthew, along with the curator of the show Gautam Bhatia.

“Desh Ki Awaaz is a thinking art”

exhibition. Each and every artwork displayed at the show will compel people to look a little deeper into the paintings and analyse the mes- sage they are trying to convey. The artworks are a visual commentary

on the sociopolitical situation of the country and most of them are based on current affairs,” says Rampras- ad. The artworks displayed com- prise abstract, semi-abstract and 3-D paintings, apart from the traditional Indian art forms like Pichawai, Tanjavore, wooden and fiber-made sculptures, along with Rajasthani miniatures and Madhubani paint- ings, among others.

Unlike other art galleries, India House Art Gallery plans to hold only six exhibitions in a year, each lasting for almost a month. “We aim to hold big exhibitions for a longer duration of time. It was decided that Desh Ki Awaaz will be held till March 10, but if we get a good response, we might extend it for a few more days,” in- forms Ramprasad. The paintings displayed at the exhibition range from Rs20,000- Rs1,50,000.