'Affordable Art Mela': Making art accessible

Vikram Bachawat of the Aakriti Gallery, Kolkata does things differently. "With The festive season setting in, Aakriti Art Gallery is hosting the 5th edition of the 'Affordable September Art Mela' in Kolkata," says Bachawat.

"After completing four successful editions of the fair at the Kolkata gallery, we look forward to offering this special opportunity to our patrons," he adds. "We at Aakriti Art Gallery constantly strive to make art more accessible to all."

The 'Affordable Art Mela' hopes to bring art into the lives of people who harbour a passion and love for it. The gallery will be showcasing the works of over a hundred artists with more than a thousand art works within the range of 1000 to 1, 00,000 INR. According to Bachawat, this is a one-of–a–kind occasion for art enthusiasts to collect original pieces of art at the best prices. He believes the pursuit of owning great works of art should not be limited to a few. The pleasure of living with and savouring great works of art is incomparable to merely looking at them in galleries.

Could you imagine buying a Jogen Chowdhury drawing for Rs 1 lakh? The fair would also feature paintings, sculptures and art prints by renowned artists as well as fresh talents in the industry. Among the greatest names, the gallery is putting together works by Achuthan Kudallur, Aditya Basak, Akbar Padamsee, Amal Ghosh, Amitabha Banerjee, Amitava Dhar, Amlan Dutta, Anindya Roy, ArvindKolapkar, Ashok Bhowmick, AsitMondal, Babu Xavier and many others.

Bachawat has always had a penchant for collecting sculptures and this show too has a delectable collection of works by artists like AsimBasu and Akhil Chandra Das, Atin Basak and Bimal Kundu.

The wide collection of works will showcase multiple art techniques like gouache, tempera, acrylic on canvas, charcoal drawings, etching, and drawing on digital prints, bronze, ceramic across various styles and genres. To get a Ram Kumar drawing for Rs 1 lakh is like grasping a bit of art history in one's hand. The Untitled 1991 ink on paper is a reflection of the sparse lithe sensibility of this fine landscape artist who revels in moods and tones of abstraction. This show is a dead ringer for new collectors of all ages; it is an epic beginning for someone who wants to grab 10 works with a small sum of Rs 10 lakhs. It certainly can't get better than this. All great collections began small and Vikram Bachawat of Aakriti Gallery echoes this age old premise.