Making the most of it

Art Mart is back in Gurgaon today with its third edition and art created out of waste

Art Mart is back in Gurgaon today with its third edition and art created out of waste

Rainy days are here. Or so it seems. What with the aam aadmi's government deciding that people in the country can live on Rs 32 a day (like really?) and debates on whether Sachin Tendulkar will reach the 100th century faster or will the price of petrol beat him to the 100 mark becoming a rage, the horizon sure has more than its fair share of dark clouds.


A Parul Bali artwork

So much so, even art in the city is learning to make do with whatever resource is available. Like they are doing in the third edition of Art Mart, that starts in Gurgaon today. The art extravaganza began to provide a platform to emerging artists who don't have the means or access to galleries and bring the art lover and artist together.
'Re-think, reinvent, recreate, remake' is the theme for this year, with about 1,000 works by more than a 100 artists. There will be art appreciation courses, competitions for children, portrait painting apart from the usual showcasing of artworks which have been mostly created using things like metal scraps, bits of paper and cloth, tin cans and such others which we normally discard.

"If you think beyond the obvious, you will find creativity and potential," points out Vidyun Singh, Director, Programmes, Habitat World. True to the spirit, Anil Dayanand will be creating a light installation using thousands of plastic bowls and candles to recreate the effect of diyas at home. "I don't know what it's going to turn into finally. I want the audience to pitch in with their ideas," he says.

Sanjay Mandal (of India's Got Talent fame), is bringing his own set of waste materials from which he will create music and teach kids how to replicate the act. Mandal and his troupe, who hail from Calcutta, have created musical instruments out of waste products like mineral water bottles, broken bangles, paint tins, homeopathic medicine bottles and such stuff. "It will be experimental. The kids will bring in waste products. We'll see if they can be put to use," says Mandal.

Rajesh Kumar Sharma has gone back to the old days and recreated the nostalgia of the highway dhaba. He has used bronze and copper to bring back the days when dhabas were an experience in themselves. "Now it has all become artificial," he laments.
Go check out.

At: Epicentre, Apparel House, Sector 44, Gurgaon
Till: Sunday
Timings: 10 am to 8 pm (Saturday onwards)
Call: 0124 2715000