BALASORE: Balasore-based lacquer artiste Kesu Das is all set to participate in the 17th edition of ‘Chitra Santhe’, an annual art fair of Bangalore January 5.
The highly popular street art fest is renowned as one of India’s largest street fairs celebrating art.
The fair is organised by Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, an institute which was established in 1960. The annual one-day event reportedly drew over 400,000 people last year. The artists include painters, sculptors, body artists, cartoonists, and more.
The 16th edition of the festival is dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi to mark his 150th birth anniversary. On-the-spot sketching, tattoos, and caricature drawing are also popular draws. The art works are priced from Rs 100 to Rs 4 lakh, according to the organisers.
Interacting with Orissa POST, Das said, “It’s the first time that lacquer art will be displayed at the art fair. 20% of the total profit will be donated to Horseshoe Crab Research Institute at Balasore. I am going to display 20 paintings of mine and they are all unique in pattern and style as well as in creativity.”
Das is the only artiste from Odisha to be nominated for the fair. More than 1500 stalls will exhibit art works from across globe.
Out of seventeen thousands applicants only 1500 are shortlisted to participate in the fair. Thousands of artists from home and abroad comprising art lovers, senior and junior artistes buy these masterpieces while visiting the mega affair.
“Street art is art for all. It is not a wine-and-cheese affair confined to elite galleries. We are providing a platform for the common man to access and value art. While we are not aware of the transaction at the art fair, there are art works being sold for anywhere between Rs 100 and Rs 4 lakh,” says Harish Padmanabha, chairman, Chitra Santhe.
The fest will be organised at the closed road in Kumarapura, Bangalore.
The profit earned by Das from the fest will be used for research on conservation of Horseshoe crabs. It is one of the endangered species found mostly near the coast of Bay of Bengal in Balasore. Their natural ecosystem is getting destroyed by a number of causes: coastal fishing near the estuary, dumping of chemical colour based idols during Hindu festivals and plastic waste.
Lacquer is non-toxic, bio degradable, eco-friendly and safe natural material for various applications of human contact and consumption. It possesses some unmatched physio-chemical properties for surface coating. Demand for safe natural materials for human contact and consumption is on the rise.
However, artists making lacquer dolls are struggling for livelihood due to lack of promotion of the art by the government. Das is promoting natural colours with the paintings on Horseshoe crabs. He is the recipient of senior Research Fellowship, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India.
Possessing anti-moisture and anti-termite properties, lacquer paintings are resistant to high temperatures and can be touched with bare hands.
Celebrating art
- The highly popular fest is renowned as one of India’s largest street fairs celebrating art
- 20 per cent of the profit earned by Kesu Das from the fest will be used for research on conservation of Horseshoe crabs