The second Art Camp

Art Camp aims to create a bridge between Indian and Aurovilian artists, and to raise awareness about Aurovilian art. “It is important to connect people, create networks and support the development of art in Auroville,” say the organizers. The participants of the Camp are selected for the quality of their work, their connection to Auroville’s raison d’être, and their approach to the theme proposed for the year. The selection aims to ensure diversity in such a way that established artists, emerging artists and others can work together. It does not matter where the artists come from, if they are known or unknown,  whether they have followed an academic path or are self-taught. The important thing is that they are professional artists. 

The lockdown prevented the Art Camp happening last year but the selection of artists for the cancelled 2020 camp was retained for this edition. Given that the participants have been looking forward to this moment for a whole year, this felt like a special edition for all of them.

This year’s Camp is more sober and intimate and the organizers explain that the artists have been given much more free time to process the experience, “This time we decided to give more freedom to the artists to experience Auroville. This created more space for spontaneity and exchanges between the participants.”

As happened in 2019, the artists had the opportunity to collectively create a public art installation. The organizers explained that it was important to have something that connected the artists with the community through working on a public space, because usually an art camp is a somewhat closed activity. For the first Art Camp, twelve concrete pillars of different heights were designed and erected to create movement on the path from the Visitors’ Center to the Matrimandir. This year, again in collaboration with Nicole from the Visitors’ Centre, they chose to paint two walls with different shades of blue along the path to the Matrimandir. 

When they start working on the public artworks, they barely know each other and it is challenging to create a joint work in a short time frame because painters usually work alone in their studios. But they bond while they are working. 

As in the first edition, this Art Camp ended with an exhibition which took place at the Centre d’Art, Citadines.

Art Camp is an event that is growing more and more, surprising  the organizers by the extent of its impact and its positive consequences. As ties are established and bridges are built between Aurovilian and Indian artists, new doors open, and the word about the event spreads. New networks are created to support art and artists at different levels.

Initiatives like this need to be supported, for they strengthen the experience of human unity and connections. Artistic and cultural exchanges are key in Auroville because they can help residents to widen their horizons, raise the quality of the art produced here and spread the message, both in India and worldwide, of the ideals on which Auroville is founded.