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Coordinates: 12°58′27″N 77°35′43″E / 12.9742357°N 77.5953023°E / 12.9742357; 77.5953023
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{{more refs|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2016}}
{{coord|12.9742357|77.5953023|display=title}}
[[FIle:Rama's marriage.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rama]]'s Marriage by [[K. Venkatappa]], whose collection is held at the Venkatappa Art Gallery.]]
[[FIle:Rama's marriage.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Rama]]'s Marriage by [[K. Venkatappa]], whose collection is held at the Venkatappa Art Gallery.]]


'''Venkatappa Art Gallery''' ('''VAG''') is situated [[Bangalore]], [[India]], in the vicinity of [[Cubbon Park]] and next to the [[Government Museum, Bangalore|Bangalore Museum]] as well as the [[Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum]]. It attracts artists and art lovers from all over [[Karnataka]].{{fact|date=May 2016}}
'''Venkatappa Art Gallery''' ('''VAG''') is situated in [[Bangalore]], [[India]], in the vicinity of [[Cubbon Park]] and next to the [[Government Museum, Bangalore|Bangalore Museum]] as well as the [[Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum]]. It attracts artists and art lovers from all over [[Karnataka]].{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}


==History==
==History==
The [[Government of Mysore]] had decided in 1966 that a gallery/museum was needed that could hold the paintings, musical instruments and [[plaster of paris]] bas reliefs which formed the collection of Karnataka’s most famous artist, [[K. Venkatappa]] (1886–1965), a pupil of [[Abanindranath Tagore]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Government of Karnataka|first1=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|title=Museums in Karnataka|url=http://www.karnatakaarchaeology.gov.in/History_Museums.html|website=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|publisher=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|accessdate=16 April 2016}}</ref>
The [[Government of Mysore]] had decided in 1966 that a gallery/museum was needed that could hold the paintings, musical instruments and [[plaster of paris]] bas reliefs which formed the collection of Karnataka's most famous artist, [[K. Venkatappa]] (1886–1965), a pupil of [[Abanindranath Tagore]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Government of Karnataka|first1=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|title=Museums in Karnataka|url=http://www.karnatakaarchaeology.gov.in/History_Museums.html|website=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|publisher=Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage|accessdate=16 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151018012007/http://www.karnatakaarchaeology.gov.in/History_Museums.html|archive-date=18 October 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>


Venkatappa Art Gallery came into being with the foundation stone being laid by the then Chief Minister [[S.Nijalingappa]] on 24 November 1967. It took a long time to complete. Artists who were frustrated with the delays went on an innovative protest on the footpath in front of Bible Society demanding the gallery space be finished in 1971. Artists included G.S Shenoy, Bhaskar Rao, Ramesh Rao, Acharya and Punam Chattaya. The building was finally completed in 1975.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Reporter|first1=Staff|title=The footpath was his gallery|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todayspaper/tpnational/tpkarnataka/the-footpathwashisgallery/article4568312.ece|accessdate=16 April 2016|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The Hindu|date=1 April 2016}}</ref>
Venkatappa Art Gallery came into being with the foundation stone being laid by the then Chief Minister [[S.Nijalingappa]] on 24 November 1967. It took a long time to complete. Artists who were frustrated with the delays went on an innovative protest on the footpath in front of Bible Society demanding the gallery space be finished in 1971. Artists included G.S Shenoy, Bhaskar Rao, Ramesh Rao, Acharya and Punam Chattaya. The building was finally completed in 1975.<ref>{{cite news|author=Staff Reporter|title=The footpath was his gallery|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todayspaper/tpnational/tpkarnataka/the-footpathwashisgallery/article4568312.ece|accessdate=16 April 2016|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The Hindu|date=1 April 2016}}</ref>


It was intended to function both as a [[museum]] holding the works of K. Venkatappa as well as becoming a space for artists from all over Karnataka to use for their arts practice. VAG is commonly mistaken for the Bangalore Museum as they both stand next to each other and yet they are very different. VAG continues to be a space that accesses the contemporary holdings within it a museum as well as a [[Art gallery|gallery]], something quite rare in the history of the structure of museums.
It was intended to function both as a [[museum]] holding the works of K. Venkatappa as well as becoming a space for artists from all over Karnataka to use for their arts practice. VAG is commonly mistaken for the Bangalore Museum as they both stand next to each other and yet they are very different. VAG continues to be a space that accesses the contemporary holdings within it a museum as well as a [[Art gallery|gallery]], something quite rare in the history of the structure of museums.


The [[Modern architecture|modernist building]] was built by the [[Karnataka Public Works Department]] in the lines of an artificial island with a beautiful moat with a lotus pond surrounding it. This was used recently as the scene for a painting protest undertaken by VAG Forum in memory of K.Venkatappa protesting the hand over of Karnataka’s cultural commons to private parties.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chronicle|first1=Deccan|title=From paint brushes to black umbrellas.|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksand-art/200316/venkatappaartgalleryfrombrushestoblackumbrellas.html|accessdate=10 April 2016|publisher=Deccan Chronicle}}</ref>
The [[Modern architecture|modernist building]] was built by the [[Karnataka Public Works Department]] in the lines of an artificial island with a beautiful moat with a lotus pond surrounding it. This was used recently as the scene for a painting protest undertaken by VAG Forum in memory of K.Venkatappa protesting the hand over of Karnataka's cultural commons to private parties.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Chronicle|first1=Deccan|title=From paint brushes to black umbrellas.|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/booksand-art/200316/venkatappaartgalleryfrombrushestoblackumbrellas.html|accessdate=10 April 2016|publisher=Deccan Chronicle}}{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>


The plan for the museum/gallery was for five floors but only three floors have been built and the whole building has been air-conditioned.
The plan for the museum/gallery was for five floors but only three floors have been built and the whole building has been air-conditioned.
Line 17: Line 20:
It also houses the collections of KK Hebbar and the sculptor Rajaram. [[Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar|KK Hebbar]], an internationally acclaimed painter from Karnataka, donated his collection to Venkatappa Art Gallery in 1993. The Government of Karnataka also bought some of his works.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bharadwaj|first1=K.V. Aditya|title=K.K. Hebbar’s family wants a trust to manage Venkatappa gallery|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/kk-hebbarsfamilywantsatrusttomanagevenkatappa-gallery/article8432057.ece|accessdate=16 April 2016|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The Hindu|date=4 April 2016}}</ref>
It also houses the collections of KK Hebbar and the sculptor Rajaram. [[Kattingeri Krishna Hebbar|KK Hebbar]], an internationally acclaimed painter from Karnataka, donated his collection to Venkatappa Art Gallery in 1993. The Government of Karnataka also bought some of his works.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bharadwaj|first1=K.V. Aditya|title=K.K. Hebbar’s family wants a trust to manage Venkatappa gallery|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/kk-hebbarsfamilywantsatrusttomanagevenkatappa-gallery/article8432057.ece|accessdate=16 April 2016|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The Hindu|date=4 April 2016}}</ref>


The KK Hebbar Gallery wing was set up in 1993–94 with the help of Chiranjiv Singh who was the former Indian ambassador to [[UNESCO]] and artist [[SG Vasudev]] who coordinated the donation.{{fact|date=May 2016}} They were helped by art historian Marishamachar. The gallery space was renovated in 2004-5 by Rekha Rao, artist and daughter of KK Hebbar, at a cost of 16 lakhs. They changed the flooring and installed a new lighting system.
The KK Hebbar Gallery wing was set up in 1993–94 with the help of Chiranjiv Singh who was the former Indian ambassador to [[UNESCO]] and artist [[SG Vasudev]] who coordinated the donation.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} They were helped by art historian Marishamachar. The gallery space was renovated in 2004-5 by Rekha Rao, artist and daughter of KK Hebbar, at a cost of 16 lakhs. They changed the flooring and installed a new lighting system.


==Contemporary art==
==Contemporary art==
[[Contemporary artists]] like [[Pushpamala N.|Pushpamala N]], [[Sheela Gowda]] started off their careers with solo shows at VAG.{{fact|date=May 2016}} The gallery has hosted umpteen number of group shows by students and practising artists. Eight Kala Melas, organised by [[Lalit Kala Academy]], beginning in 1980 and through the next three decades have had great outreach and participation here at the gallery. VAG has also been the place which hosted the International live Art Festival, CoLab, [[India Foundation for the Arts]] Public art presentations and the Ananya Drishya talks by artists which have been open and free for the public.
[[Contemporary artists]] like [[Pushpamala N.|Pushpamala N]], [[Sheela Gowda]] started off their careers with solo shows at VAG.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The gallery has hosted umpteen number of group shows by students and practising artists. Eight Kala Melas, organised by [[Lalit Kala Academy]], beginning in 1980 and through the next three decades have had great outreach and participation here at the gallery. VAG has also been the place which hosted the International live Art Festival, CoLab, [[India Foundation for the Arts]] Public art presentations and the Ananya Drishya talks by artists which have been open and free for the public.


Venkatappa Art Gallery also played host to the seventh [[Khoj]] International Artists’ Residency in [[Bangalore]] in December 2003.{{fact|date=May 2016}} This brought together artists from both Bangalore and the rest of the world to enable a working together, opening up the space for new conversations, for new dialogues, new partnerships to form. This also was another important step in bringing together artists and art practitioners from the north and south of India into a collective arts conversation.
Venkatappa Art Gallery also played host to the seventh [[KHOJ, International Artists' Association|Khoj]] International Artists’ Residency in [[Bangalore]] in December 2003.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} This brought together artists from both Bangalore and the rest of the world to enable a working together, opening up the space for new conversations, for new dialogues, new partnerships to form. This also was another important step in bringing together artists and art practitioners from the north and south of India into a collective arts conversation.


‘Silence of Furies and Sorrows – Pages of a Burning City’, was a group show with C.F. John, Raghavendra Rao, Nandakishore, Ravisankar Rao, Amrish, Shantamani, Tripura Kashyap, and Ramesh Chandra exhibited in the Venkatappa Art Gallery.{{fact|date=May 2016}} This show came about as response to what was a troubling series of communal riots that rocked Bangalore in 1994.
‘Silence of Furies and Sorrows – Pages of a Burning City’, was a group show with C.F. John, Raghavendra Rao, Nandakishore, Ravisankar Rao, Amrish, Shantamani, Tripura Kashyap, and Ramesh Chandra exhibited in the Venkatappa Art Gallery.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} This show came about as response to what was a troubling series of communal riots that rocked Bangalore in 1994.


==Controversy==
==Controversy==
The tourism department identified Venkatappa Art Gallery as one of the tourist sites up for ‘adoption’ around 2014–15.<ref>{{cite news|last1=M Sripad|first1=Ashwini|title=Private Companies Chip in With Makeover Plans|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Private-Companies-Chip-in-With-Makeover-Plans/2016/01/24/article3242333.ece|accessdate=20 April 2016|work=The New Indian Express|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The New Indian Express|date=24 January 2016}}</ref> An [[Memorandum of Understanding|MoU]] was signed in July 2015 between the departments of museums and archaeology and tourism and the [[Tasveer Foundation]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Narayanan|first1=Nayantara|title=Artists are fighting to keep the Karnataka’s only public art gallery public|url=http://scroll.in/article/805782/artists-are-fighting-to-keep-the-karnatakas-only-public-art-gallery-public|accessdate=20 April 2016|work=Scrol.in|publisher=Scroll.in|date=28 March 2016}}</ref> which will see the complete transfer of management, curation, renovation to the private foundation. This was done without involving the larger community of artists who stake a claim to VAG as a space that has nurtured them and continues to be a space where younger artists can experiment with their practice.{{fact|date=May 2016}} The controversy is further fuelled by the fact that the director of the Tasveer Foundation, [[Abhishek Poddar]], was also a member of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Karnataka|first1=Government of|title=Tourism Vision Group|url=http://www.karnataka.gov.in/tourism/Pages/Tourism-vision-group.aspx|website=Government of Karnataka|publisher=Government of Karnataka|accessdate=20 April 2016}}</ref> which recommended and set in place the process for ‘adoption’.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rao|first1=Alka|title=Venkatappa Art Gallery Issue|url=https://vagforum.in/2016/04/07/a/|website=VAG Forum|publisher=VAG Forum|accessdate=16 April 2016}}</ref>
The tourism department identified Venkatappa Art Gallery as one of the tourist sites up for ‘adoption’ around 2014–15.<ref>{{cite news|last1=M Sripad|first1=Ashwini|title=Private Companies Chip in With Makeover Plans|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Private-Companies-Chip-in-With-Makeover-Plans/2016/01/24/article3242333.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160124093953/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/Private-Companies-Chip-in-With-Makeover-Plans/2016/01/24/article3242333.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 January 2016|accessdate=20 April 2016|work=The New Indian Express|issue=Bangalore|publisher=The New Indian Express|date=24 January 2016}}</ref> An [[memorandum of understanding|MoU]] was signed in July 2015 between the departments of museums and archaeology and tourism and the [[Tasveer Foundation]],<ref>{{cite news|last1=Narayanan|first1=Nayantara|title=Artists are fighting to keep the Karnataka’s only public art gallery public|url=http://scroll.in/article/805782/artists-are-fighting-to-keep-the-karnatakas-only-public-art-gallery-public|accessdate=20 April 2016|work=Scrol.in|publisher=Scroll.in|date=28 March 2016}}</ref> which will see the complete transfer of management, curation, renovation to the private foundation. This was done without involving the larger community of artists who stake a claim to VAG as a space that has nurtured them and continues to be a space where younger artists can experiment with their practice.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} The controversy is further fuelled by the fact that the director of the Tasveer Foundation, [[Abhishek Poddar]], was also a member of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Karnataka|first1=Government of|title=Tourism Vision Group|url=http://www.karnataka.gov.in/tourism/Pages/Tourism-vision-group.aspx|website=Government of Karnataka|publisher=Government of Karnataka|accessdate=20 April 2016}}</ref> which recommended and set in place the process for ‘adoption’.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Rao|first1=Alka|title=Venkatappa Art Gallery Issue|url=https://vagforum.in/2016/04/07/a/|website=VAG Forum|publisher=VAG Forum|accessdate=16 April 2016}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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==External links==
==External links==
{{commons cat|K. Venkatappa}}
{{commons category|K. Venkatappa}}
* [https://vagforum.in/ VAG Forum website]
* [https://vagforum.in/ VAG Forum website]
* [http://www.tasveerfoundation.com/ Tasveer Foundation website]
* [http://www.tasveerfoundation.com/ Tasveer Foundation website]


[[Category:1967 establishments in Mysore State]]
{{coord missing|India}}
[[Category:Art museums and galleries established in 1967]]

<!-- in general -->
[[Category:1967 establishments in India]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1967]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in India]]<!-- in general -->
[[Category:Contemporary art galleries in India]]<!-- in particular -->
[[Category:Contemporary art galleries in India]]<!-- in particular -->
[[Category:Museums in Bangalore]]
[[Category:Art museums and galleries in Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Biographical museums in India]]
[[Category:Biographical museums in India]]

Latest revision as of 01:05, 30 November 2024

12°58′27″N 77°35′43″E / 12.9742357°N 77.5953023°E / 12.9742357; 77.5953023

Rama's Marriage by K. Venkatappa, whose collection is held at the Venkatappa Art Gallery.

Venkatappa Art Gallery (VAG) is situated in Bangalore, India, in the vicinity of Cubbon Park and next to the Bangalore Museum as well as the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum. It attracts artists and art lovers from all over Karnataka.[citation needed]

History

[edit]

The Government of Mysore had decided in 1966 that a gallery/museum was needed that could hold the paintings, musical instruments and plaster of paris bas reliefs which formed the collection of Karnataka's most famous artist, K. Venkatappa (1886–1965), a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore.[1]

Venkatappa Art Gallery came into being with the foundation stone being laid by the then Chief Minister S.Nijalingappa on 24 November 1967. It took a long time to complete. Artists who were frustrated with the delays went on an innovative protest on the footpath in front of Bible Society demanding the gallery space be finished in 1971. Artists included G.S Shenoy, Bhaskar Rao, Ramesh Rao, Acharya and Punam Chattaya. The building was finally completed in 1975.[2]

It was intended to function both as a museum holding the works of K. Venkatappa as well as becoming a space for artists from all over Karnataka to use for their arts practice. VAG is commonly mistaken for the Bangalore Museum as they both stand next to each other and yet they are very different. VAG continues to be a space that accesses the contemporary holdings within it a museum as well as a gallery, something quite rare in the history of the structure of museums.

The modernist building was built by the Karnataka Public Works Department in the lines of an artificial island with a beautiful moat with a lotus pond surrounding it. This was used recently as the scene for a painting protest undertaken by VAG Forum in memory of K.Venkatappa protesting the hand over of Karnataka's cultural commons to private parties.[3]

The plan for the museum/gallery was for five floors but only three floors have been built and the whole building has been air-conditioned.

It also houses the collections of KK Hebbar and the sculptor Rajaram. KK Hebbar, an internationally acclaimed painter from Karnataka, donated his collection to Venkatappa Art Gallery in 1993. The Government of Karnataka also bought some of his works.[4]

The KK Hebbar Gallery wing was set up in 1993–94 with the help of Chiranjiv Singh who was the former Indian ambassador to UNESCO and artist SG Vasudev who coordinated the donation.[citation needed] They were helped by art historian Marishamachar. The gallery space was renovated in 2004-5 by Rekha Rao, artist and daughter of KK Hebbar, at a cost of 16 lakhs. They changed the flooring and installed a new lighting system.

Contemporary art

[edit]

Contemporary artists like Pushpamala N, Sheela Gowda started off their careers with solo shows at VAG.[citation needed] The gallery has hosted umpteen number of group shows by students and practising artists. Eight Kala Melas, organised by Lalit Kala Academy, beginning in 1980 and through the next three decades have had great outreach and participation here at the gallery. VAG has also been the place which hosted the International live Art Festival, CoLab, India Foundation for the Arts Public art presentations and the Ananya Drishya talks by artists which have been open and free for the public.

Venkatappa Art Gallery also played host to the seventh Khoj International Artists’ Residency in Bangalore in December 2003.[citation needed] This brought together artists from both Bangalore and the rest of the world to enable a working together, opening up the space for new conversations, for new dialogues, new partnerships to form. This also was another important step in bringing together artists and art practitioners from the north and south of India into a collective arts conversation.

‘Silence of Furies and Sorrows – Pages of a Burning City’, was a group show with C.F. John, Raghavendra Rao, Nandakishore, Ravisankar Rao, Amrish, Shantamani, Tripura Kashyap, and Ramesh Chandra exhibited in the Venkatappa Art Gallery.[citation needed] This show came about as response to what was a troubling series of communal riots that rocked Bangalore in 1994.

Controversy

[edit]

The tourism department identified Venkatappa Art Gallery as one of the tourist sites up for ‘adoption’ around 2014–15.[5] An MoU was signed in July 2015 between the departments of museums and archaeology and tourism and the Tasveer Foundation,[6] which will see the complete transfer of management, curation, renovation to the private foundation. This was done without involving the larger community of artists who stake a claim to VAG as a space that has nurtured them and continues to be a space where younger artists can experiment with their practice.[citation needed] The controversy is further fuelled by the fact that the director of the Tasveer Foundation, Abhishek Poddar, was also a member of the Karnataka Tourism Vision Group,[7] which recommended and set in place the process for ‘adoption’.[8]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Government of Karnataka, Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage. "Museums in Karnataka". Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage. Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Staff Reporter (1 April 2016). "The footpath was his gallery". No. Bangalore. The Hindu. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. ^ Chronicle, Deccan. "From paint brushes to black umbrellas". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 10 April 2016.[dead link]
  4. ^ Bharadwaj, K.V. Aditya (4 April 2016). "K.K. Hebbar's family wants a trust to manage Venkatappa gallery". No. Bangalore. The Hindu. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  5. ^ M Sripad, Ashwini (24 January 2016). "Private Companies Chip in With Makeover Plans". The New Indian Express. No. Bangalore. The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 January 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  6. ^ Narayanan, Nayantara (28 March 2016). "Artists are fighting to keep the Karnataka's only public art gallery public". Scrol.in. Scroll.in. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  7. ^ Karnataka, Government of. "Tourism Vision Group". Government of Karnataka. Government of Karnataka. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  8. ^ Rao, Alka. "Venkatappa Art Gallery Issue". VAG Forum. VAG Forum. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
[edit]