By Sunanda Parmeshwar, IANS
Mumbai : After over 12 years of promoting art and young artists from across the country, Tina Ambani, wife of industrialist Anil Ambani, is set to take the next step up the art ladder.
Thirty international artists from around the world will unveil their unique and exclusive sculptures at the Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City (DAKC) at Navi Mumbai, Monday (Jan 14).
The artists have been working for a month under the Harmony Art Foundation (HAF)’s residency programme at DAKC, according to Tina Ambani, the moving force behind HAF.
“We wanted to create a stage for Indians and international artists to exchange ideas and techniques and come up with something unique and everlasting,” Tina told IANS here Sunday.
While this programme has not yet caught the attention of Indian museums, it has already triggered great interest in museums and art galleries abroad.
In fact, a seven-member delegation from the Peabody Essex Museum in Boston, US, is scheduled to visit the Harmony Art camp to check out the works.
“Peabody has one of the largest collections of Indian art in the world. Together with Harmony, we can do a lot to promote the art scene, both in India and abroad,” Tina explained.
Tina feels museums in India have a long way to go in promoting art and artists. For one, they lack adequate infrastructure. Another is the near-absence of corporate banking support.
When asked why she did not consider setting up a private art museum herself, Tina paused before replying. “I would love to if I had land for it. It could be a very ambitious project. But I am passionate about art. I think, some day a museum might surely become a reality,” she said.
According to Tina, art in the modern era has gone beyond the conventional ‘colour and canvas.’ As an art aficionado and promoter, she feels that one has to constantly keep changing and challenging one’s capacity to achieve something different to make a meaningful contribution to society.
The Monday’s unveiling ceremony will feature works by renowned international names like Mitsunori Koike, Prithipal Ladi, Uday Vir Singh, Gaio, Shelly Miller, Manish Pushkale, Akhilesh, Anant Joshi, Pierre Legrand, Fred Martin, Jagannath Panda, Myrna Balk, Anuradha Majumdar, Harsha Vardhana, Surya Prakash and Veer Munshi.
Some of the artists, including 10 from abroad, have created 10-15 sculptures. They have been working throughout the day for the past few weeks at DAKC.
Incidentally, the 12th Harmony Art Show in March 2007 featured over 250 works of arts by 128 artists. More than half the participants were new and budding talents who were given a mega platform to highlight their artistic creations.
The Harmony Art Foundation also provides an opportunity to streetchildren to showcase their works of art at the same venue through Aseema, an NGO working towards rehabilitating deprived children.