The CIMA Art Mela 2018 will travel to the national capital this week where collectors will get an opportunity to buy works donated by artists of the likes Jogen Choudhury, Ganesh Pyne, Manu Parekh and Arpita Singh among many others.
Billed as the country's most affordable art fair where the prices of the works start from Rs 3,000 and go up to Rs 75,000, the mela will be held from April 26-30 at The Visual Art Gallery in the India Habitat Centre.
"In the past 10 years since the art mela was introduced, Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA) has successfully created a new generation collector base in Kolkata and other Indian metropolitan cities, says Rakhi Sarkar, who heads CIMA.
The art mela project has been primarily designed to encourage new collectorship while providing talented emerging artists with a platform to showcase their works, she says, adding the upcoming fair will essentially target the "young upward mobile generation" of Delhi region.
All the art works are sourced directly from the artists. In Delhi, works of 80 artists will be on offer at the fair under the aegis of the CIMA Art Gallery of Kolkata.
"To evaluate and recognise young talent (25-45 years of age) CIMA has introduced a biennale titled 'CIMA Awards'. It is held once every two years through a transparent and highly objective module of selection through a preliminary and final two tier selection process by renowned national jurors," Sarkar told PTI.
The winners are awarded in cash and kind and promoted through citywide exhibitions and a comprehensive catalogue promoted worldwide.
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"CIMA has set up an art and heritage foundation to support these. It has also catalysed a Kolkata festival to encourage the holistic promotion of arts and artists. It organises large travelling shows on visual art both abroad and within the country," Sarkar says.
Among the other artists whose works will be on display are Paramjit Singh, Thota Vaikuntam, Paresh Maity, Prabhakar Kolte and Suhas Roy.