Tata Steel Art in Industry brings celebrated artists, young talents under one roof

Bhubaneswar: Tata Steel Art In Industry, an art camp-cum-exhibition was inaugurated on Thursday at the Press Club of Odisha, Bhubaneswar.

The three-day event, Tata Steel Art In Industry, is a one-of-a-kind platform that connects a diverse group comprising of eminent and emerging artists, youth, art connoisseurs and society at large.

The art camp was inaugurated by the eminent painter Baldev Gambhir in the presence of Ruchi Narendran, wife of T V Narendran, CEO and MD, Tata Steel; Arun Misra, Vice President, Project Gopalpur, Tata Steel and MD, Tata Steel SEZ, and Chanakya Chaudhary, Group Director, Corporate Communication & Regulatory Affairs, Tata Steel.

A total of 15 artists from various walks of life have been brought together by Tata Steel in the second edition of ‘Art-In-Industry’, thereby facilitating expression of thought as well as cross-cultural learning through the medium of oil and canvas.

Eminent artists like R B Bhaskaran, Vrindavan Solanki, Baldev Gambhir and a host of renowned Odia artists will nurture and encourage the budding talents participating in the event. Leading Odiya painter Manash Jena is the curator of this event.

The camp timings are from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm. The paintings will be displayed in an exhibition at the venue in the evening of 17th Feb 2018, following which the participating artists will be felicitated in the closing ceremony.

As a run-up to the event, Tata Steel is also conducting a painting competition at the venue over the three days among the art college students of Odisha.

“There is no way technology can duplicate creativity, therefore all of us need to make a huge effort to make sure that the future generation continues to engage and expand their horizon and take a break from technology,” said Ruchi Narendran.

“I am very proud that Tata Steel has been conducting the Art in Industry event for so many years and are doing it for the second time in Bhubaneswar. We are very fortunate to have some very eminent artists in the event this year,” said Narendran.

“Tata Steel has been contributing to the society not just culturally but in many ways such as sports, arts, education etc, since its inception. It is a matter of pride that an Indian company like us succeeded in setting up a steel plant under the British rule and thought of contributing to the various aspects of society,” Arun Misra said.

“Tata Steel Art in Industry brings artists from across the country together who have cultivated their unique style of artistic expressions rather than following established norms. We welcome all the art connoisseurs and artists to come and experience this celebration of cultural diversity. Art in Industry 2018 at Bhubaneswar promises to be even more engaging as we bring before you the artistic genius from across the country” said, Chanakya Chaudhary.

The concept of Art-In-Industry dates back to 1943 when Tata Steel was one of the prize donors of an art exhibition and sale at the JJ School of Art, Mumbai.

Artists were invited to compete for prizes and scholarships. The aim, even then, was not merely to be able to sell the entries or acquire the paintings, but also to bring the talent of lesser-known artists to the notice of leading industrialists and patrons of art.