Latest news with #KarnatakaChitrakalaParishath
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Books, games, and safety lessons: How Bengaluru police are transforming station visits to teach kids
Written By Mehak Singh A well-lit room filled with books, magazines, posters, and gaming equipment is the last thing you would expect to see while walking into a police station. Yet, this is precisely what visitors will experience at three police stations in Bengaluru. In an attempt to encourage public-friendly police stations and create awareness about laws and crimes among children, child-friendly rooms have been opened at the Vijayanagar, Magadi Road, and Govindarajanagar police stations in the city, the police said on Tuesday. 'We have established these rooms with the help of donors and Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath students. If it is successful, we will implement this in other police stations where there is space availability,' Seemant Kumar Singh, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner, said. According to the police, the goal is to give kids 'a safe and comforting environment' when they visit their parents. With the rooms offering a 'welcome space' instead of an intimidating one, the police hope they will help break down barriers between youngsters and law enforcement. The spaces are stocked with educational materials as well as play items. Walls are plastered with friendly cartoons and posters about safety, and book stands hold children's magazines. Age-appropriate lessons in the form of charts—one, for example, explains the difference between 'good touch' and 'bad touch'—help kids learn about personal safety in a nonthreatening way. The child-friendly rooms are paired with outreach programmes like 'open-house' days, where students from nearby schools will be invited to visit the space and talk with police officers. These sessions—one has already been held—will see police stations turn into hands-on classrooms where children learn about their rights and safety through fun activities and skits. For example, officers will explain in simple terms what the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act is, and answer questions about how it keeps children safe. Teachers and students will learn that child marriage is illegal and that every child has the right to go to school. Through games and engaging activities, children can practice talking to a 'trusted adult' if something feels wrong, and memorise emergency numbers they can call for help. 'We want to help create trust in the police and reduce crime against children by making them aware of what is right and wrong,' Abhishek S K, Police Inspector, Vijayanagar police station, said. By speaking in a friendly tone and giving children helpful information, he explained, the police force hopes to change kids' image of law enforcement. The Bengaluru police want children to feel safe approaching a police officer when in trouble. And at these three police stations in the city, every child who leaves with a smile will be celebrated as yet another win for community policing. Mehak Singh is an intern with The Indian Express.
Indian Express
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Strokes of culture: how ‘The Friendly Brush Strokes' became more than just art
Written by Bhoomika Roy Bannerjee Within the walls of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bengaluru, something quietly powerful and creative is taking place – The Friendly Brush Strokes, an art exhibition that was not born in the studios of professional curators or commercial galleries but in a moment of kinship between five strangers-turned-friends. At first glance, it appears like any other modest art exhibition. But as you step inside, you can hear the brushstrokes whisper stories of self-taught journeys and passion nurtured through years of working other jobs. 'None of us knew each other before last year's Chitra Santhe,' says Christopher M, the event's organiser. 'We admired each other's works, spoke, and laughed, and the idea just sparked. Over a year's worth of discussion, we came up with the idea of this exhibition.' Christopher, a self-taught artist from Kerala, spent over 25 years in advertising before choosing to return to the world he had first touched with pencil sketch outlines as a child. Today, he is as comfortable creating oil paintings as he is with digital art on canvas. His story alone could fill a gallery, but it's the collective voice of the group that makes this show remarkable. Alongside him stands a diverse group of artists —Meghna Chowhan, Shrinivas, Sojaa Soman, and Meera. Some of them were lawyers and civil engineers. Some are full-time artists. Each presents a unique style, ranging from acrylics and mural painting to the famous Gond tribal style of art practised in Madhya Pradesh. Every piece was created using just a brush—no mixed media, no embellishments. That simplicity is part of the point. 'We wanted to name it something honest,' explains Christopher. 'We all work with brushes. And more importantly, we've become friends through our variety of styles using a singular tool.' There is no overarching theme, but the exhibition isn't about aligning styles, but about what happens when five people believe their art deserves an audience. 'We are just seeing how it goes, as this is our first group exhibition,' Christopher says when asked about the future of The Friendly Brush Strokes. 'If people respond, if this works—maybe it becomes a yearly thing.' In a world where creativity often fights for space, an exhibition like this serves as a reminder that art does not always need a grand hall or curatorial statements to matter. Sometimes, all it takes is five brushes and one shared wall. The exhibition will be open to visitors until July 6. The author is an intern with The Indian Express.
The Hindu
01-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Group art exhibition at CKP from July 2 to 6
Art enthusiasts in the city are in for a treat as 'The Friendly Brush Strokes', a vibrant group art exhibition, will take place from July 2 to 6, 2025, at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (CKP), Art Complex, located on Kumarakrupa Road. The exhibition will showcase the creative expressions of five artists, namely Meghna, Meera, Srinivas, Sojaa Soman, and Christopher, each bringing their unique style and perspective to the canvas. The show will be open to the public daily from 10.30 a.m. to 7 p.m. The event will be inaugurated by S.N. Shashidhara, general secretary of CKP, at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Adding to the occasion, Fr. Moncy Nellikunnel SDB, executive secretary of the Commission for Liturgy, will participate in the event as the Guest of Honour. With a diverse range of artworks on display, 'The Friendly Brush Strokes' promises to be a celebration of creativity, collaboration, and artistic dialogue.
The Hindu
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Contemporary art exhibition at CKP
The third edition of Visual Confluence, a vibrant celebration of contemporary art, was inaugurated on June 9 at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath (CKP). The exhibition features the works of 20 artists from across India, showcasing a compelling fusion of traditional Indian aesthetics with modern artistic expressions. The exhibition is open from 10.30 a.m. to 7 p.m till June 15. Dharmendra Patle, Deputy Commissioner, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (Bengaluru), who inaugurated the exhibition, underscored the transformative role of art in fostering creativity and cultural connection. Jahar Dasgupta, an eminent artist and guest of honour, reflected on the delicate balance between innovation and sensitivity in artistic practice.
New Indian Express
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Remembering Yusuf Arakkal
Long before Yusuf Arakkal's canvases found their place in galleries across the globe, his life began with loss, escape, and an unrelenting hunger to express. Orphaned at the age of seven and sent away to a boarding school, he 'fled' from Kozhikode to Bengaluru as a teenager, not in search of fame — but emancipation. On a quiet weekday afternoon, the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi breathes with the soul of this man who saw the world not as it appeared, but as it truly felt. Yusuf, the late master of brooding canvases and silent cries, returns to Kochi — not in person, but through an overwhelming retrospective that feels more like a homecoming than an exhibition. That journey — marked by struggle, survival, and the solitude of being unseen — etched itself permanently into his art. Yusuf's figures were rarely whole. Often bald, genderless, hunched or expressionless, they stood like echoes of those society forgets. 'He always said that figure was himself,' says Sara Arakkal, his wife, lifelong collaborator and curator of his legacy. 'He was not bald. He was not a woman. But he saw himself in all the disregarded.' Over the next five decades, Yusuf would become one of India's most compelling modern artists, not only for his technical brilliance but for his insistence on portraying the invisible. His subjects were migrants, daily-wage workers, refugees, crying spoke not in slogans but in sighs. 'He gave dignity to those who have none,' Sara says. 'He painted their silences.' Though his artistic core was forged in solitude, his career blossomed with recognition. After receiving his diploma in painting from Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in 1973, Yusuf's work would go on to be exhibited in New York, Paris, London, and Singapore. Among his many accolades are the National Award (1983), the Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi Award, and the Lorenzo de Medici Gold Medal at the Florence Biennale. Yet to Sara, his greatest masterpiece wasn't a particular painting, but the spirit behind them. 'His life was art. His breath was art,' she says. 'He never did it for success. Even when we had nothing, he would still paint.' He worked as a technician in Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), but later quit the job to pursuit the creative calling. He was a sculptor, poet, and a thinker — a man who carried within him both machinery and mysticism. 'There was something divine in him,' Sara reflects.
