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CIMA Awards – Kolkata Art Festival 2017 on 4th February to 4th March 2017

Ms. Rakhi Sarkar and Dr Alka Pande announced the highlights of CIMA Awards – Kolkata Art Festival 2017, in New Delhi. The second edition of CIMA AWARDS-the Kolkata Art Festival 2017 has been designed as a biennial event in search of country wide talent in visual arts. Initiated and supported by Art & Heritage Foundation (AHF), a non-profit body and partnered by CIMA (Centre of International Modern Art), the project was introduced for the first time in 2015. The month long festival begins from 4th February and will continue till 4th March 2017 at various venues across Kolkata.

The awards have been designed to discover genuine talent in India, especially beyond the cities. It seeks to bridge the gap between urban and semi-urban India, promoting the varied richness of Indian arts as a whole. In this edition, the project has been expanded to include other allied creative disciplines and activities viz. design, architecture, cinema, performance art, symposia, talks, conversations and workshops through various collateral projects in collaboration with leading universities, agencies and institutions from across the world, providing a holistic experience and overview of the arts.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Rakhi Sarkar, Project Director, CIMA Awards – Kolkata Art Festival 2017 said, “CIMA Awards has been designed as one of the most definitive and exciting events on Indian visual art. It is an award centric project, aiming to reward and promote excellence and enhance creative freedom. Through a rigorously curated International Symposium, Connecting Histories, the project tries to reinvent the tradition of dialectics so fundamental to our civilisation. The current edition, earmarked for February 2017, in Kolkata, has been significantly expanded to include multi disciplines through over 30 collateral partners. The festival aspires to provide a holistic overview of contemporary visual language in context to other creative disciplines likes cinema, theatre, music, architecture and design. In its entirety, CIMA Awards – Kolkata Art Festival 2017 will provide an incredible experience from the heart of an incredible city; a ‘must see’ for the art cognoscenti of India.”

The City of Kolkata becomes a live art gallery for the month of February 2017 with the addition of an international and national art symposium around the Theme of ‘ Connecting Histories’. Collateral events will be held with leading art galleries in the city and will include an iconic exhibition on Migrations with the Goethe Institut. Local cultural institutions like Chitraban and IIT will also be seen in collaboration for this magnum event. The project is fast emerging as a major platform in India for artists, art cognoscenti, scholars and as a meeting ground for creative minds from across the world.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Alka Pande, Project Director, CIMA Awards – Kolkata Art Festival 2017, said, “The addition of the International Symposium to the second edition of CIMA Awards in February 2017 is a well thought component to expand the theoretical discourse to the CIMA awards. Scholars from India and abroad will investigate the historical processes which underpin the visual narrative of art practice in India. The cultural diversity and plural culture of the land is embedded with many layers of the complex thought which emanates through time and space. The Symposium addresses the simple question ‘what is history’. And through the interrogation of the role of ‘connecting histories’ it attempts to unfold the process of art making. Text and image remain entwined creating systems of art. The international Symposium here alludes not only to the ‘wonder that is India’ but finds resonances in the Ancient Greek text of Plato’s key text ‘The Symposium’.”

Highlights of Kolkata Arts Festival 2017

The festival will kick off with the opening remarks by the Project Director Ms. Rakhi Sarkar and Director of Symposium, Dr. Alka Pande. The keynote address on Transmedial Trajectories will be delivered by Dr. Chris Dercon, Former Director, Tate Modern, intendant of Volksbuhne, Berlin. This shall be followed by a conversation with Suman Mukherjee, Film maker & Theatre Director. A discussion on Museums of the 21st Century will be held in the presence of Sophie Makariou, President & Curator, Musee Guimet, Dr. Deborah Thiagarajan, Art Historian, Founder, Madras Craft Foundation, Dakshinachitra and Swapan Chakravorty, Managing Trustee, Kolkata Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA). For the talk on Curatorial Strategies Elizabeth Easton, Director, Center for Curatorial Leadership will be in conversation with Jay Levenson, Director, International Programmes, MOMA, New York. The keynote address for India in 50 Lives will be delivered by address by Sunil Khilnani, Professor & Director, Kings India Institute, Kings College,London. It will be followed by conversation with Dr. Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Indian Historian & Chancellor of Ashoka University. For the discussion on Farewell to Post Colonialism, Writer, Researcher, Curator & Professor, Sarat Maharaj, will be delivering the keynote address followed by a conversation with Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. Former Founder & Director of PS1 & Founder Director, Clocktower Productions, Alanna Heiss, will speaking on The Shaping of PS1. A talk on Traditional Expression – both folk and tribal shall be held as a part of the festival. A Panel Discussion on Public Art and Urban Spaces will be held with Suresh Jayaram, Curator, Niladri Chatterjee, Professor, Dept. of English, University of Kalyani, Dr. Tapati Guha Thakurta, Director, Centre for Studies in Social Science. The session will be moderated by Dr. Alka Pande.

CIMA Awards 2017 – 4th February 2017: The second edition of CIMA Awards will have around 20 awardees in eight categories. The distinguished panel of jurors comprises artists, art historians, curators, academics, critics and people from creative fields across India.

  • CIMA Award: Rs 5 lakhs, a trophy and a solo show
  • 1st Runner Up Award: Rs 3 lakhs and a trophy
  • 2nd Runner Up Award: Rs 2 lakhs and a trophy
  • Two Special Jury Awards: Rs 1lakh each and a trophy
  • Two Special Mention Awards: Rs 50,000 each and a trophy
  • Four Merit Awards: Rs 25,000 each
  • Four Director’s Choice Awards: Rs 25,000 each
  • Felicitation programme for distinguished curators, institution, builders & scholars from India and abroad.

Content Courtesy: VTY – Very Truly Yours, New Delhi

By Rameesh Thaithodiyil

Growth, Marketing & Sales Strategist, and Managing Partner of Enmain LLP, ensuring exceptional customer experiences.

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