The people of Kalaburagi woke up to a pleasant surprise on Sunday as vivid colours dotted the stretch of the main road from Public Garden to S.M. Pandit Ranga Mandir, turning it into an open-air art gallery with artists from various districts of Kalyan Karnataka region showcasing their works at the 11th edition of Chitra Santhe.
Nearly 100 professional and budding artists, including students of Bachelor and Master in Fine Arts from across the region, displayed their works at the art festival jointly organised by the Central University of Karnataka, the Gulbarga University, Chaitanyamayi Art Gallery, Hyderabad Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (HKCCI) and Hyderabad Karnataka Artists Association in Kalaburagi.
Works such as mural arts, charcoal sketches, abstracts, landscape, portraits, clay works, line drawing and modern arts using different colours were on display.
Dozens of tattoo artists and spot sketch artists attracted the youths. The artists brought their excellent collections to display and also to sell them to visitors directly.
One of the participating artists V.B. Biradar depicted visitors through his oil canvas paintings on the theme of the life history of Sharanabasaveshwara.
His series of painting works on canvas brought to life the Anubhava Mantapa set up by 12th century social reformer Basaveshwara.
The 64-year-old Mr. Biradar was conferred with Karnataka State Lalitakala Academy Award in 1985. He has organised 19 solo exhibitions and participated in 55 group exhibitions and art camps across the country in the last four decades.
The oil canvas works of D.S. Desai, the water painting landscape works by Ramakrishna, the pencil works of Hussain Naik and the mural art works by Pallavi were the highlights of the art festival.
