Mumbai, Mar 5 (PTI) The Artists’ Centre in Mumbai has reopened more than four years after it shut down, with veteran artist Prakash Bal Joshi’s exhibition ‘River Returns’ marking the inaugural event.
The institution’s Kala Ghoda premises in south Mumbai used to be the meeting point of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, and artists M F Husain, S H Raza, K H Ara, F N Souza, H Gade and Sadanand Bakre.
The centre vacated space in Kala Ghoda in 2019 after losing a court battle.
The institution, initially called Bombay Art Society Salon, came to be known as Artists’ Aid Fund Centre in 1950 and was later rechristened Artists’ Centre.
The aim of the institution was to promote contemporary art, provide a meeting place for artists and patrons, and financial assistance to deserving artists.
The centre once hosted the travelling exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s prints, which attracted important stakeholders of the art world including Sir Cowasji Jehangir, nuclear physicist Dr Homi Bhabha as well as educator and freedom fighter Aruna Asaf Ali.
The gallery, now called Nitya Artists’ Centre, is located in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi area and drew art enthusiasts and esteemed members of the art fraternity to witness the reopening ceremony on March 2.
Joshi’s evocative abstract artworks added an extra layer of depth to the evening, captivating attendees and setting a high standard for the forthcoming exhibitions.
The ‘River Returns’ exhibition of Joshi, a senior political journalist and author, will be on at the centre till March 8, he said. PTI VT VT
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