‘Home’ as seen by the autistic

The work of eight artists with autism will go on display in Bengaluru this weekend

How do you envision your dream home? Eight autistic artists express their idea of home through their art at an exhibition organised by Design Cafe in Bengaluru and Jamshedpur-based Atypical Advantage.

April is observed as National Autism Awareness Month and the organisers believed this exhibition would be a chance for the artists to monetise their artwork. With Atypical Advantage striving to provide livelihood opportunities for the disabled and Design Cafe working with home interiors, it seemed pat that the exhibition is themed, ‘Dream Home’.

The eight artists — Sridhar Rangarajan, M. Mithun, Rupak Munje, Swaminathan Manivannan, Prithvi Ramkumar, R Kedhar, Sarang Sachin Jaltare and Devansh Maurya — in the age group of 15 to 35 are from Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru. As natural for people with autism who possess an unusual perspective, these paintings in mixed media with different techniques, depict the mundane in a surreal manner.

Brilliant colour and an unhindered imagination shine through in these canvases which will be available for sale at the venue or via social media.

According to Gita Ramanan, co-founder and CEO of Design Cafe, the purpose of this partnership with Atypical Advantage was to build a more inclusive ecosystem where artists could thrive based on their talent as well as create job opportunities for professionals with disabilities.

As many as 1 in 500 people have autism which is a neurodevelopmental disorder that distorts a person’s communication and social interaction skills. “Lack of exposure creates the greatest divide in society and hopefully, this exhibition will lead to a wider recognition of the abilities of artists with autism,” says Vineet Saraiwala, founder and CEO of Atypical Advantage.

While the exhibition will display only a few works by the artists, their work can be commissioned and the rest of their art can be viewed at www.atypicaladvantage.in/