HT Imagine Fest 2018: A confluence of varied arts

The visit to an art gallery attained a completely new meaning for those who experienced the first edition of Rajnigandha Hindustan Times Imagine Fest 2018, held at Nehru Park lawns in Chanakyapuri over last weekend.

“I have never seen children running and playing in art galleries. But this festival made that possible,” said Gopi Gajwani, veteran painter, who visited the event.

Galleries exhibited artworks - priced between five thousand and 1.5 lakh - in stalls alongside some stalls that facilitated art workshops. Besides, there were talks, musical performances, and food stalls to make the fest a complete experience. “This is the first time ever that we exhibited artworks at a platform that brings various arts together,” said Tripat Kalra, founder, Gallery Nvya, while hearing the energetic live tunes of the band Swarveda singing songs such as Piya Re Piya Re and Bam lahiri. She adds that people are often hesitant to enter art galleries, “But here there were no barriers, and people could see art and relate to it.”

Some art stalls exhibited small format works of popular artists, who created new artworks specially for this fest. Case in point Sanjay Bhattacharyya’s depiction of common people of India through watercolour on paper in 15”X11” size, at Arushi Arts’ stall.

But, it wasn’t just visual arts that was curated for this fest. Chef Pankaj Kumar from The Leela Palace stall said, “We created the dish Martini Espunas - with a mix of lamb and mushrooms - especially for the visitors at Imagine Fest, and received a great feedback. Even our travel cakes in lemon and coffee flavours sold out really soon.”

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