New Delhi, 10 Mar: From charcoal sketching to oil painting, a large number of artists gathered at the historic Purana Quila here on Sunday as part of a daylong camp to bring their vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ on canvas.
Union minister Piyush Goyal in his address at a ceremony held at the camp said these artists as ambassadors of ‘Viksit Bharat’ will “become a partner in a new revolution, a development revolution”.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited the art camp later in the afternoon.
“Stopped by at the #ViksitBharatAmbassador Artist Workshop at Purana Qila today. Commend @ngma_delhi and @LalitKalaLKA for organizing. Pleased to see the various expressions of Viksit Bharat through the medium of art. #ModiKiGuarantee was the underlying message that the country agrees with today,” Jaishankar posted on X.
The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) joined hands for the ‘Viksit Bharat Ambassador Artist Workshop’, which saw participation of both professional artists and fine arts students.
On a sunny day, a portion of the verdant lawns of the heritage site was teeming with artistic activities since morning and the camp also drew in tourists, domestic and foreign.
The backdrop of the centuries-old fort has accentuated the feel of creativity as art and architecture have come together in one setting.
Union minister for commerce and industry Goyal, in his address, referred to the signing of a free trade agreement between India and the four-nation European bloc EFTA earlier in the day.
“The stature of India today, one could witness in the programme (India-EFTA trade agreement signing) that happened just before this, when India’s first free trade agreement with any developed country in the West was concluded today,” he said.
India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed a free trade agreement under which New Delhi has received an investment commitment of USD 100 billion over the next 15 years to facilitate the creation of one million jobs.
The EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
It will become a means to “open new avenues” of employment, the Union commerce and industry minister said.
In his address, he also said, “As warriors (‘yoddha’) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ambassadors of ‘Viksit Bharat’, artists who have gathered here in their own ways, through their stories and expressions, will embolden the country in coming times.”
“And, all you artists as ambassadors of ‘Viksit Bharat’ will become a partner in a new revolution, a development revolution (‘vikas ki kranti’),” he said.
The government has launched the ‘Viksit Bharat’ campaign seeking to make India a developed nation by 2047.
While most of the artists came from Delhi and neighbouring cities in the National Capital Region, some had come from Chandigarh too, officials said.
“One can see an ocean of artists sprawled on the lawns of the historic Purana Quila. Some are sketching, others painting with oil, acrylic or other medium, each one driven by the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’,” a senior official of the NGMA told PTI earlier in the day.
Sanjeev Kishor Goutam, director general of the NGMA, went around the camp and interacted with artists and art students as they used the brush to conjure the image of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ on their canvases.
Besides, the historic setting of the event, a group of artistes also performed in the background adding a festive layer to the art camp.
“Many foreign tourists coming to Purana Quila since morning were moving around watching inquisitively at artworks being created,” the senior official said.
“While an artist cannot be restricted to a time frame in imaging an art, the overarching theme will be Viksit Bharat by 2047,” Goutam had earlier told reporters at NGMA while announcing the project.
The event represented a collective journey towards progress and development, encapsulating the essence of the vision for a thriving and culturally rich India, officials said.
These artists will be the ‘Viksit Bharat ambassadors’ as they will dream up the developed India as they wish to see it, they said.
Besides, school students also participating in it presenting a painting or other artwork online.
Those interested artists who could not join at the camp venue registered their presence virtually. A large screen put up at the venue showed many of them joining the event online. (PTI)