Chennai is home to multiple art institutions, and a legacy that boasts of a regional Modernist movement that is unlike any in the country. Yet, conversation surrounding visual art is often restricted to the usual suspects: galleries, artists and patrons alike. Madras Art Weekend’s maiden edition last year attempted to break these shackles by kick-starting a dialogue.
A year later, the annual weekend dedicated to art is back to be bigger, and reach a wider audience, with focus on building communities, and fostering empathy to celebrate Chennai for the art capital it could and should be.
This year, the festival extends to more than just a weekend, on to five days of art showcases, panel discussions and sensorial displays with two international artists and their work in attendance. “The core of this year’s narrative is based around children, community and compassion,” says Upasana Asrani, curator of Madras Art Weekend. To that end, the festival kicks off with a site-specific installation by UK-based environmental artist Steven Massem at Shiv Nadar School. An auto rickshaw housing a giant, inflatable form with spikes covered in locally-known fabric that juts out of the vehicle would be fashioned within the school campus: “We wanted children to experience everyday objects in an extraordinary manner. And to re-imagine the everyday. This particular installation is something that we are really looking forward to having in the city,” says Upasana. This will be a permanent installation at the school.
