Kolkata: After winning accolades in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, Kochi and Hyderabad Himanshu Jangid, a vintage car restorer from Jaipur, reached Kolkata with a mission of spreading road safety and painting the town, albeit the cars of those who wanted to give an artistic twist to their four-wheelers. The Cartist Yatra reached Kolkata with its caravan comprising painted shipping containers, 15 artists and a myriad collection of automobile art.
The three-day art extravaganza hosted at the Eco Park, in association with HIDCO and Kolkata’s Museum of Modern Art (KMOMA) on its finale had as many as 150 young artists camping at venue, painting automobiles and canvases with cityscape, Howrah Bridge, the iconic rickshaws or human tongas, bright flowers, dancers, human caricatures, and everything else that captured the essence of the city.
“We not just had artists participating but also a healthy footfall of locals who came to witness this unique amalgamation of art and cars,” said Himanshu.
The participating artists got a chance to do some artwork on a Honda City and a few Maruti Zen. Running parallel to the live art extravaganza was a Cartist exhibition, where cars painted by artists in different participating cities were displayed along with a variety of modern art pieces including two must-see 1:1 scale handmade frames of Jaguar E-Type and a Volkswagen Beetle.
Speaking about the roadshow, Himanshu said, “It took Cartist Yatra about two months to reach Kolkata by road. The idea of Cartist and this journey is to blend art and passion for cars into a single entity. And of course, provide a platform to talented artists across India to showcase their creativity.”
The journey, which began on November 4 from Jaipur, has travelled to Ajmer, Bhilwara, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Vijayawada, before reaching Kolkata, from where it shall be travelling to Delhi and Chandigarh.
What adds on to this unique yatra is the fact that in each city, Himanshu has been selecting a handful of artists, with an exceptional artistic bend, who will get a chance to assemble in Jaipur, for the annual Cartist Automobile Art Festival 2018.
Speaking of this opportunity was a young artist, Sumit Dey, “This is for the first time that an art event with such a unique concept has been hosted in Kolkata. I am very excited about participating in this event.”
