To further the repertoire of Visual Arts, Takshila has set up the ‘Arthshila Art Studios’ at Parivartan—its integrated rural community development initiative at Narendrapur, Siwan in Bihar.
The Ceramic Studio has three gas-operated front-opening kilns, five potter’s wheels, pug mill, jigger jolly machine, slab roller and other materials for glazing terracotta and ceramic products. This studio is involves traditional potters and women from the local community to enhance pottery as a sustainable livelihood option for villagers.
The Graphic Art Studio at Parivartan houses two etching and litho presses with the capacity for yielding prints of sizes 36" x 60" and 42" x 72" along with a 44" digital printer. It provides facilities for intaglio printing, surface printing, digital printing, and silk-screen printing.
The Sculpture Studio offers facilities for metal casting and stone carving. A wood-cum-coke fired foundry has been set up for forging sculptures of clay/wax or plaster-of-paris molds using readily available local material. It stocks drill machines, grinders, air blowers, and other sculpting tools cum materials.
Art Symposia organized by Takshila under the Arthshila banner are hosted at the Arthshila Art Studios. The space aspires to create a hub in South Asia for practicing artists from India and abroad to convene, create and learn from one another.
The Painting Studio has been in use since 2018 and stocks eleven wooden H-frame adjustable easels, stretched canvas frames of various sizes, canvas, paper, oil and acrylic paints, water colours, range of brushes and other materials. It has hosted Arthshila International Artists Symposium 2018 and the two painters who visited during Arthshila Sculpture Symposium 2018.
Arthshila International Artists Symposium 2018 The Symposium brought together 16 foreign artists from 11 different countries along with 6 Indian artists and engaged them in intensive workshops specializing in Ceramics, Graphic Art, and Painting over 11 days.
All India Art Students Camp 2018 27 undergraduate and postgraduate students from 15 reputed art institutes of India participated in a 10-day workshop, practicing and learning the nuances of Printmaking from senior mentor artists Kavita Shah and Pritam Deuskar.
Mezzot’ India 2018 The first International Mezzotint Print-art Festival in the country was organized by Bihar Museum in collaboration with Arthshila. Curated by reputed mezzotinter Guy Langevin, it comprised of over a month-long Mezzotint Artworks Exhibition at Bihar Museum and a weeklong MezzoWorkshop at Parivartan. 13 foreign artists from 8 different countries and 10 senior printmakers from India took part in this intensive workshop on ‘mezzotint’, a uniquely specialized printmaking technique.
Arthshila Sculpture Symposium 2018 Takshila’s first venture into sculptures, the Symposium was curated by celebrated sculptor K.S. Radhakrishnan and focussed on Bronze Casting. This 15-days workshop saw participation from 3 foreign artists—2 sculptors and 1 painter, as well as from 8 Indian artists—7 sculptors and 1 painter. The Sculpture Studio and the Foundry of the Arthshila Art Studios were initiated during this symposium.
Arthshila Sculpture Symposium 2019 15 eminent senior Indian sculptors and 20 talented sculptor assistants participated in this 15-days Symposium which specialised in Stone Carving. Curated by eminent sculptor Robin David, it offered five choices of stones to the participants, viz. Chunar sandstone, Bheslana black marble, Banswara white marble, Udaipur pink marble, and Jaisalmer yellow stone
Arthshila International Artists Symposium 2020 Ten acclaimed Indian ceramic artists, two artist assistants, and three helpers from the Parivartan community participated in Arthshila’s first symposium dedicated to Ceramics, which was curated by reputed ceramist P.R. Daroz.
Arthshila Folk Art Symposium Jul-Aug 2021 Curated by art researcher Mushtak Khan, this was Arthshila’s first art residency on the folk and tribal arts. It focussed on painting and bagged participation from 13 artists from 6 folk art traditions, viz. Anushthanik Chitrakala, Rajwar Lipai, Godna, Kalighat Patua, Jadu Patua and Hazaribagh Sohari. The selected traditional painting styles are traditionally done on walls, floors and treated natural material using earth colours. In this symposium, the artists attempted for the first time to explore and paint on modern art material, using acrylic colours and ink on paper and canvas.
Arthshila Folk Art Symposium Nov 2021 Like the previous residency in this series, this Symposium was curated by art researcher Shri Mushtak Khan and involved eleven artists from five Indian indigenous art traditions—Thangka Chitrakala of Ladakh, Paitkar Chitrakala of Jharkhand, Patua Pattachitra of West Bengal, Kalamkari Chitrakala of Andhra Pradesh and Chittara Chitrakala of Karnataka. The idea again was to encourage artists to explore modern art materials (ink, acrylic and canvas) to showcase their respective folk art.
Arthshila Folk Terracotta Sculpture Symposium 2022 (24 February–15 March 2022) Curated by art researcher Mushtak Khan, this is Arthshila’s first folk-based symposium on sculpture and specialised in terracotta. It involved participation of 17 artists from 5 terracotta art traditions: Darbhanga Mrinshilp from Bihar, Gorakhpur Mrinshilp from Uttar Pradesh, Bankura Mrinshilp from West Bengal, Barpali Mrinshilp from Odisha, and Bastar Mrinshilp from Chhattisgarh. The 20-day residency yielded over 200 pieces of terracotta art that were baked in five different kinds of traditional kilns prepared by the visiting artists. Effort was made to replicate traditional lesser known objects and forms.
Arthshila Folk Painting Symposium 2022 (12–22 September 2022) Arthshila’s third folk-based symposium on painting, curated by Mushtak Khan, involved 26 artists from 14 art traditions belonging to 10 states of India: Cherial Nakashi from Telengana, Baiga, Badi Godna and Meena Mandna from Madhya Pradesh, Kavad from Rajasthan, Jogiki and Kutchi from Gujarat, Manjusha from Bihar, Savara from Odisha, Chai Bagan and Pothi Chitra from Assam, Mizo Chitra from Mizoram, Naga Chitra from Nagaland, and Tripura Lok Chitra from Tripura.
Arthshila Bihar Artists Symposium 2022 (25 September–1 October 2022) This symposium was curated by senior printmaker Shyam Sharma and organised to gather 22 native artists of Bihar from the streams of painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and ceramics. A total of 53 artworks including 18 paintings, 10 prints, 10 photographs, 5 terracotta and 10 ceramic sculptures were created during the 7-day residency. We are looking to showcase the same in an exhibition.
Arthshila x Khoj Artists Residency 2022 (15 November–20 December 2022) A joint endeavour of two verticals of Takshila (Arthshila and Parivartan) and Khoj Studios, this 5-week residency provided upcoming contemporary artists, selected through multi-rounds open call, to interact with Parivartan community and co-residents to share their practice in this synergised environment. The intention was to enable breakthroughs in interdisciplinary art and for the dialogue between practitioners and public to flourish. The artists chose to work with themes of gender, the agrarian crisis, community, familial memory, ecology, food, protest and social justice. Mentor visits by residency jurists Rahul Kumar and Anushka Rajendran were organised during this tenure. Alina Tiphagne from Khoj documented the works created by the residents.
Arthshila Folk Metal Art Symposium 2023 (17 February–3 March 2023) Our first folk and tribal metal art symposium was curated by art academician Mushtak Khan to bring together all prominent bronze casting traditions prevalent across India. We had 19 artists representing 8 traditions of metal casting from 5 states. The idea was to create works and objects specific to the region, hand in hand with reviving dwindling forms for full range representation of the these traditions under the Takshila Art Collection. 111 objects covering idols, figurines, jewellery, lamps, utility knick-knacks were created as a result.
Arthshila x FICA Artists Residency 2023 (21 March–8 April 2023) This residency was organised in collaboration with the Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art to provide a 3-week stint to the artist recipients of FICA Emerging Artists Award 2022. Its focus was on a range of emerging practices and responding to the way practitioners were developing their critical enquiries and experiments with a variety of media. The residents interacted closely with Parivartan community and moulded their work not simply in response to them, but also meant to be engaged with by them.