Quality, diversity, conversations: How art galleries nurture the cultural ecosystem

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 800 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery, world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

In Part I and Part II of our photo essay on Chennai’s Gallery Veda, we shared a range of creative visuals and curator perspectives. Founded in 2012, the gallery runs two art spaces in the city with a well-known love for the arts.

The gallery features a wide spectrum of traditional and contemporary art, ranging from portraits to abstract works. The current exhibition is titled Realm of Ethos, curated by Annapurna Madipadiga.

“The art I’m dealing with is very universal, so I have different sectors of audiences. They have all received the gallery and the art very well,” gallery co-founder Preeti Garg tells YourStory.

Earlier exhibitions since 2012 have been titled Visible Invisible, Trance of the Tribe, Reverence, Confluence, and Enchanted Realms. During the Chennai Photo Biennale 2019, the gallery presented the works of artist Samar Jodha, a renowned photographer and installation artist.

At India Art Fair 2024, the gallery represented artists such as Bibhu Nath, Ganesh Selvaraj, Pulkit Prajapati, Tapasya Gupta, and Yuvaraj Velu. Gallery Veda has conducted several auctions over the years, titled Genesis (2024), Aura (2023), Evolution (2021), Serendipity (2020), and Vardah (2017).

Curator Annapurna Madipadiga explains that the artworks in her ongoing show represent whispers of a bygone era, echoes of a home left behind, and the unspoken dreams of finding one’s path. They depict emotions such as pain, grief, joy, and triumph, and spur conversations between the artist and the observer, the past and the present, the seen and the unseen.

“Here, you will find not only the stories of others but the threads of your narrative woven into the vibrant tapestry of human expression,” Madipadiga says.

Such curated shows at the gallery are intended to push boundaries of perception and also question the normal. The gallery aims to inspire more people to understand and love art, become connoisseurs, and also buy artworks.

Over the years, the gallery has featured the inspiring works of artists such as Aelay Laxman, Bharat Thakur, Chetan Mevada, Dilip Chobisa, Ekta Singha, Ganapati Hedge, Ompal Sansanwal, Priti Samyuktha, Rumki Bhaumik, Santosh Jain, Sumit Mahndiratta, Tauseef Khan, and Vatsya Padia.

Garg calls for more art appreciation in society. “There is a need to create awareness, and make people inclusive in events and art shows,” she suggests.

Conducting workshops can also help promote art. “They can ensure that people do not find it intimidating to enter an art space,” she says.

“Architects and consultants help in promoting art appreciation. Galleries have to see that the quality of art is maintained,” Garg signs off.

Now, what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?

(All photographs were taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at the gallery.)