The NEWS Art fest 2024: What to expect from the contemporary art showcase in Hyderabad

The NEWS Art Fest 2024 in Hyderabad will feature interactive sessions, workshops, and exhibitions by renowned artists. Curated by Laxman Aelay, Nagesh Goud and Manvinder Dawer, it will feature renowned artists such as Anjoli Ela Menon, RM Palaniappan and others

The NEWS Art Fest 2024 aims to go beyond showcasing contemporary art. Curated by Hyderabad-based artists Laxman Aelay and Bolgum Nagesh Goud along with Mumbai-based Manvinder Dawer, founder,  India Fine Art, the festival will host interactive sessions and workshops with well-known artists. At the State Gallery of Art in Madhapur, Hyderabad, the events will kick start with an art camp on February 12 and lead up to an art showcase beginning on February 17.

“We wanted to organise an art festival in Hyderabad for the last two years and it is finally taking place. We began with an intent of featuring artworks by at least 100 artists and before we knew it, the number grew to 200,” says Manvinder.

He reveals that the art camp will have 12 artists interacting with art enthusiasts. Anjolie Ela Menon, Shuvaprasanna, V Ramesh, Vinod Sharma, RM Palaniappan, Vrindavan Solanki, G Subramanian, Shipra Bhattacharya, Shobha Broota, Prabhakar Kolte, Gurcharan Singh and Vimmi Indra are the participating artists. “The camps and workshops are not limited to emerging and mid-career artists or art students. These sessions will be open to anyone interested in watching artists at work and understanding art better,” Manvinder adds.

On view during the exhibition will be paintings, sculptures, new media installations, drawings and etchings by artists whose work pertains to early modern art, Bombay progressive group, Kolkata group, Madras school and Baroda narrative figurative groups, among others. 

The works of reputed artists such as K Laxma Goud, Thota Vaikuntam, Ravinder Reddy and V Ramesh from the south will feature along with those of Jogen Chowdhary, Suhas Roy and Chandra Bhattacharya, portraying facets of human life. Rini Dhumal, Rekha Rodwittiya, Indrapramit Roy, Surendran Nair and Vrindavan Solanki’s works will feature figurative and narrative reflections of the land. Manu and Madhvi Parekh’s work will showcase work inspired by folk art while Prabhakar Kolte and Vinod Sharma’s artworks veer towards abstracts. Landscapes by the late Surya Prakash, the bold strokes of Ram Kumar and Ramesh Gorjala’s reinterpretation of mythological themes in Kalamkari style will also be a part of the exhibition.

Among the sculptures, look out for Ravinder Reddy’s series on deities, terracotta sculptures by Himmat Shah, stainless steel creations by Valey Shende and Arzan Khambatta and Karl Antao’s wooden sculptures.

The new media art section, curated by Anand Gadapa and Nirmala Biluka, will feature installations by emerging artists who use materials ranging from leather and charcoal to carton boxes to portray social themes. Some of these installations include Swathi Bheemani’s Fragments of Catastrophe, Manoj Kumar Pannala’s Beasts Within and Banda Suresh Kumar’s series on living objects. Rahul Mitra’s Box City will be a metaphor for life in urban spaces. There will also be multimedia art installations.