For art’s sake

Eight budding artists receive scholarships from Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi

It was a special moment and for most of the young artists an overwhelming one at that. Budding sculptors, painters and a caricature artist, eight talented students of the Government College of Art were selected for scholarships by the Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi, a novel endeavour. Selected by a panel of senior artists, the students will receive a monthly stipend of Rs 2,000 which has been sponsored by city-based companies. “Many of them are personal friends and were gracious and generous. We’re setting a trend, one that will give many artists encouragement, promote research and quest for excellence in their fields. The choice was tough, but we found artists who are enthusiastic, energetic, have fresh ideas and have already done impressive work,’’ Diwan Manna introduces the artists and adds that the scholarships are being named after eminent personalities like Amrita Sher-Gill, Tagore, Dr MS Randhawa, Le Corbusier…The amount agrees Diwan is not huge, but yes, it’s a great start, “and a wonderful way to encourage us to work harder for it’s a way of supporting us to see and research more, travel to exhibitions and even frame our work, which is also tough to do with our limited resources. These scholarships will set standards and aspire us for better work,’’ Aishwarya Sultania, a painter is looking ahead.

For Ritu Raj Singh the fellowship’s come at a good time, as his father retired this month, “and that means a little less burden on him.’’ Amrit Pal Singh is a brilliant caricature artist, who believes you don’t need words to support a caricature and agrees it’s an off-beat field, which has a fantastic future, “Humour is close to my heart and I’m looking forward to some original work,’’ says Singh. Get creative…