The legacy of a veteran, an idealist and a visionary still stands strong in the busiest city of Chennai, proclaiming the color of a dream that was once shared by those who were eloquent with the strokes of a crude paint brush. The Cholamandal Artist Village is indeed a place of absolute beauty, standing in contrast to the drab and colorless world that surrounds it. The glory of this beautiful place can be witnessed while the luxuries of a hotel Chennai India has such as The Gateway Hotel IT Expressway Chennai pampers you and delights you in true Indian warmth and hospitality.
The Cholamandal Artist Village was formed in the year 1966 by K.C.S. Paniker who was a noted metaphysical and abstract painter while also being the Principal of Madras School of Arts during the period. He, along with a few of students dreamed a dream and acted on that dream and established the Cholamandal Artist Village which was to become a haven of bliss to the artists who were to live there enjoying the profession that they loved so much in a setting of a self sufficient village. The Artists Handicrafts Association was also formed along with the establishment of the Cholamandal Artist Village by thirty eight students of K.C.S. Paniker with the intention of creating a congenial space for practicing their art.
The humble beginnings were to be rewarded with great glory in the years to come as the year 1970 saw the village becoming self sufficient and growing to be a prominent place for international artists to meet and enjoy each other’s works of art. The establishment of the Cholamandal Artist Village has also been recognized as one of the “10 biggest moments” in India.
The village continues to march from strength to strength with the expansion of the village that now holds a permanent exhibition that sells paintings, sketches, batiks, handicrafts as well as terra cotta, stone and metal sculptures. The artists of the Cholamandal Artist Village were also the first batik fabric manufacturers of the country and their initial efforts which were well rewarded providing the funds that were necessary to buy the land upon which the village now stands. A true story of unity and commitment by those who shared a passion and a dream, is well worth a place in the pages of time.
Jayani Senanayake is a writer who dabbles in travel and all things exotic. Under the pseudonym of Caliope Sage, she writes of the allures that must simply be discovered.