Monalisa Kalagram in Pune hosted an exhibition, put together by The Curators.Art. Here are some artistic highlights, with hopes for a better future.

Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 560 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.

The Monalisa Kalagram in Koregaon Park, Pune recently hosted a wide-ranging exhibition of over 30 contemporary artists, titled Contemporary Signatures. Some of the artworks are priced from Rs 45,000 to Rs 5.5 lakh.

The aptly-named art hub is founded by mother-daughter duo, Mona and Lisa Pingale. The current exhibition, showcased in the gallery and online, was conceptualised and curated by The Curators.Art (see Part I of our photo essay here).

 

2021: lessons learnt

“The pandemic changed art viewing patterns the world over and collectors became increasingly comfortable with buying online, which is great for the growth of Indian art,” explains Lisa Pingale, co-founder of Monalisa Kalagram, in a chat with YourStory.

“But at heart, I remain old school and believe viewing art in person has an unparalleled magic,” she adds. Hence the gallery did not actively do too many virtual shows.

“Opening the season with a large show like Contemporary Signatures has more than made up for the brief absence we had from shows,” Lisa enthuses.

 

“2021 saw a slow and steady comeback to normalcy. The general sentiment among people about life has evolved, I would say. The pandemic has taught us to be prepared for the worse,” Mumbai-based artist and educator Gunjan Shrivastava observes.

People’s resilience has increased, and artists have explored new horizons of digital media. “Additionally, a lot of rural artists have come to the forefront with the advent of social media,” she adds.