From an artist’s parental home in Bengaluru to an urban village in Delhi: The changing landscape of art residencies in India

These sanctuaries of creativity offer diverse locales, like the quaint, ancient site of Hampi, a bucolic heritage home just three hours away from Khajuraho, a factory compound in Vadodara and a biodiversity hotspot in Kerala, to inspire emerging artists and art practices

The otherwise orderly gallery space Chemould CoLab, nestled in Colaba’s historic building Sugra Manzil, bursts into a chaos of aesthetics every summer when it doubles up as an artist residency. In the backdrop of French casement windows with glass-stained fanlights, painters — sometimes feverishly and sometimes with utter punctiliousness — colour canvases resting on easels. When they are not creating art, they tour Mumbai’s most famous neighbourhood, including The Taj Palace and The Gateway of India, which skirts the residency.

It is not just the bustling touristy spots of Mumbai that offer diverse locales to inspire emerging artists and art practices at India’s artist residencies. These sanctuaries of creativity extend to a wider landscape — from the quaint, ancient site of Hampi, an urban village in Delhi and an artist’s parental home in Bengaluru to a bucolic heritage home just three hours away from Khajuraho, a factory compound in Vadodara and a biodiversity hotspot in Kerala.

Sculptor Anirudh Shaktawat applied to the inaugural residency programme of Hampi Art Labs in January to take a break from his back-to-back exhibition schedule. “I picked up printmaking and ceramics there to see how these processes, which are expensive and extremely technical, extend to my existing practice,” he says.

In contrast to Chemould CoLab, Hampi Art Labs is a nine-acre architectural marvel near UNESCO World Heritage Site Hampi. An initiative of JSW Foundation — the social development arm of Mumbai-based JSW Group — the precincts of the residency have been designed by Sameep Padora, dean of the faculty of architecture at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, and his studio sP+a. “The building is inspired by the Tungabhadra River. It is not in a city where you have access to art galleries. Artists engage with local communities through cultural events and workshops on pottery making, embroidery by Lambani women and the stone carvers of Hampi,” says Meera, residency director at Hampi Art Labs.

While Chemould CoLab hosts artists through invitation, the latter follows a hybrid model. It invites artists and sends out an open call too. “The first residency was open-plus-invited call, while the ongoing residency was an open call where five artists were chosen by a jury. The upcoming residency in July will have six artists selected via open call,” adds Meera.

An intimate space, Chemould CoLab cannot accommodate more than three artists for its annual four-month residency that lasts till August. “A lot of networking can happen during the residency because we’re in the heart of Mumbai. We choose young, emerging artists. They can go out and use the city as an inspiration,” Atyaan Jungalwala, director and gallerist of Chemould CoLab, illustrates with examples of artists Kuldeep Singh and Jayeeta Chatterjee: “Last year, Jayeeta made a work based on the Koli fisherwomen of Mumbai, while Kuldeep, who is based in Brooklyn and is an Odissi dancer too, collaborated with local musicians here. The experience reflects in his paintings.” This year, the residency, which began in 2022, is hosting two visual artists.

In the absence of standard guidelines, all residencies in the country have their own working models. For instance, Chemould CoLab covers artists’ stay and tiffin service, but doesn’t allow them to part with works made during their stay. The residency culminates into an exhibition-cum-sale of their works. Artists are given a part of the profit from their artworks.