NGMA's Summer Art Program culminates with an exhibition

As the month long Summer Art Program comes to an end, the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi announced 'NAIMISA: Summer Art Program Exhibition' , which will be open for public view from July 6, 2019, at Auditorium, National Gallery of Modern Art.

The month long extensive summer program at NGMA was started to create an environment for participants to come, create and learn from practicing artists and their peers. Several workshops with over 400 participants, were held in order to increase visitor engagement in the educational programs of the museum.

Eminent artists like Arpana Caur, Vijender Sharma, Amrut Patel, and Savindra Savarkar, to name a few also graced the workshops to interact with the participants.

The exhibition includes works like documentaries, paintings, prints, sculptural work, woven artworks, ceramics and many other mediums. The area which was treated as a studio by the participants, is now a display case. The display of the exhibition rather than following a timeline, follows a thematical layout – where different artworks can not only compliment each other, but also create conversations with the interaction of different mediums. The exhibition is a creative endeavour to create an environment where people can appreciate and get inspired by the work.

Adwaita Charan Garanayak, Director General, National Gallery of Modern At mentioned that "This was a great opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds from all corners of the society to come together and learn not only from great artists, but also from each other. The exhibition is only a pathway for NGMA to become the next 'adda' for art, but also it lets people become a part of a national institute in a way where the general public's work is given the same status and importance as any masterpiece in our permanent collection. We are putting all our efforts to make NGMA a Cultural Hub and this workshop was definitely something which became a vital step in that direction. The works displayed here are just a small example of the exceptional potential that not only the youth of today has, but also the older generation of grandparents who joined in to make this a family experience. After the successful execution of the workshops the final exhibition has truly transformed NGMA's Admin block into almost a shrine or a place to offer 'shraddha' thus making it Naimisa."

Ritu Sharma, Director, National Gallery of Modern Art also stated that "The workshops were a great way of allowing families spending time and not only connecting with art but also with NGMA. The environment created by the workshops and the participants was a great way to allow NGMA to become a part of the social fabric of India by uniting different people with one common interest being learning about art. The exhibition shows how individual participants and their art works were influenced by each other."

The series of 10 inclusive workshops held during the Naimisa summer art program 2019 emphasised on the aspects of Sculpture, Painting workshop, Art of Printmaking, Life Study, Madhubani Painting, Art for Specially Abled people along with a special Workshop in Collaboration with Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts titled 'Arayash: Great Tradition of Jaipur Fresco Painting'.

This year, parents, guardians and grandparents of the participants of the workshops also engaged themselves in the creative processes and large scale panels depicting their tryst with the paint brush and colours can be seen around the entire campus. Selective art documentaries were also showcased to expand their knowledge in different domains of art such as 'The Poetics of Color', 'Rhythm and Movement in Art', 'Discovering dark and Light', Remembrance of things past', 'Exploring relief Print Making', and many more.

Following the dedicated approach of NGMA, New Delhi to include students, young graduates and other sections of society to become friends of the museum, an internship program was outlined in conjunction with the summer art program 2019. Applicants were invited from young graduates from art institutions and other colleges for the above mentioned program. Young graduates from institutions such as College of Art, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and several other colleges were part of the NGMA Intern Team for the Naimisa: Summer Art Program 2019.