Journalism of Courage
With galleries launching in hotels and stores,art in the city reaches a larger audience.
As one walks through the lobby of Hyatt Residency,Nagar Road,the eye naturally directs itself to the beautiful works of art displayed in neat rows against the walls. Art2Day,a gallery that made a modest start at Tilak Road in 2005,and opened another gallery in Camp three years later,has recently expanded to the plush settings of Hyatt Regency.
Founders Priyamvada and Sanjeev Pawar decided that housing a gallery inside a five-star hotel will promote the sale of Indian art among foreigners. Many of our guests come from other countries. They are curious about Indian culture and heritage and art is a medium through which they can explore it. They are enthusiastic about taking home art from here but do not know where to find it in the city. The gallery at our hotel is the solution to this problem, says Anhita Nariman,communications manager at the hotel.
The first exhibition held at the gallery featured a series titled Bandwallahs,which depicted scenes from a traditional Indian wedding. Our overseas guests were fascinated with the paintings of Bandwallahs and some were even sold. Our next exhibition will be a charity event where a part of the proceeds will go towards drought-relief work in Maharashtra, says Nariman.
When curator Sanjay Kumar Sethia and art enthusiast Anaida Parvaneh decided to bring high art to the city,they thought that a hotel would make for a great launch as it would allow for a wider audience. So,the Pune Art Gallery opened in mid-February at Oakwood Premier,Koregaon Park-Mundhwa annex. Pune is the cultural capital of the state,yet I could not find high-level art in the city. My aim,through this gallery,is to bring such art to the city because Pune definitely has a market for it, says Parvaneh,also a consultant at Oakwood. She adds that the hotel became an obvious option since it regularly hosts lifestyle-related events.
Sethia says the gallery is not restricted to hotel guests and is a small reflection of the art available today,including big names. We spend a lot of time with our artists before offering to showcase their work at our gallery, he adds.
Apart from hotels,stores are also devoting wall space for art shows. The Either Or store converted almost half of its space into an art gallery with an exhibition titled Card-o-logy earlier this month. Our main objective is to make art more accessible to enthusiasts, says Ritika Narang Tickoo,co-founder of Either Or. The store has kept its art space simple where any art lover can walk in and pick up affordable artworks.
