Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) aims to expose people to various tracks of cultural activity and art in a variety of forms. The soul behind Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Mrs. Nadar feels that art dissemination and art knowledge translation is something that can be leveraged to make art more accessible to the public. Keeping this in mind, Ministry of Culture and Archeological Survey of India have collaborated with KNMA to conduct art workshops at heritage sites and monuments, pan India that come under the direct purview of ASI. At KNMA, the aim has been to do everything possible to foster the arts and culture of India.
The main purpose of conducting these workshops will be to sensitize the visitors towards Indian art and culture, specific to the ASI monument sites at which they will be held. It will help raise awareness and foster interest for art in the public eye. To encourage everyone to join in, KNMA plans to organize the workshops on weekends. The Heritage Art project began in Delhi, quite aptly on Republic Day weekend (January 26th & 27th) at Qutab Minar and Humayun Tomb, respectively. The other cities where the workshops with take place include, Lucknow, Bhopal, Guwahati, Dehradun and Shimla.
Art is anything but ‘elitist’ and KNMA aims to bridge this gap between the art and general public through their various art interactive programs like these workshops at various heritage sites throughout the nation. “The dialogue with the lay person is important, it is essential to catch interest in order for the notion of art as elitist to be dispelled. We decided to conduct art workshops to expand the reach of art to everyone by leveraging the ‘entertainment’ value of it. We want people to feel motivated to see and relate to these works. This project will be an important step towards change, and hope to help bring art and culture to people in a different and interesting manner,” said Mrs. Kiran Nadar, Founder and Chairperson, KNMA.
KNMA is plugging the lack of art promotion in the public sphere and is working towards encouraging art appreciation. KNMA aspires to become a place for confluence, through its curatorial initiative and exhibitions, school and college workshops, art appreciation discourses, symposiums and public programs. It is focused on bridging the gap between art and the public and fostering a museum-going culture in India. In order to activate the museum as a site for visual and intellectual dialogue, the museum aims to develop innovative programs that seek active collaborations from artists as well as the public.