Artists

It Matters is a space for artists and the community to connect, collaborate, and create. Rooted in Auroville’s spirit of exchange, it fosters dialogue and new ideas beyond the local art scene.

Krishna Devanandan has a background as a dancer, cultural event organiser and teacher of Tai Chi. She helped organise the Auroville Film Festivals and managed the Auroville Art Service from its inception in 2012 until 2023, when the Auroville Foundation appointed new executives.

Born in Paris, Nathalie grew up surrounded by the evocative scents of her grandfather’s painting studio. At the age of seven, her life took a profound turn when her family moved to India, eventually settling in Auroville.

Aurodeva is an artist and art therapist born and raised in Auroville whose work displays a rich blend of creativity, introspection, and connection to his roots.

Marco Feira passed away in his house in Sharnga community on 26 December at the age of 74. He had been suffering from cancer. Marco joined Auroville almost 30 years ago.

From November 15th to December 4th, the Centre d’Art brought together two contemplative exhibitions: Pujasree Burman’s "Sacred Echoes" and Vasandan Virappan’s "The Symbol of Meditation."

Walking into the room of this exhibition curated by Art Service and CREEVA feels like stepping into a conversation in multiple languages – some loud and vibrant, others quiet and subtle.

Vaishali Jain, a radiant 27 year old young woman, known to her close friends as Vishu, left her body on September 1st due to a traffic accident.

Soham (Jacques C. H. Philippeau) passed away at his home in Transformation on 19th September, 2024, due to cancer. He was 73 years old. Soham spent some of his younger years in Corsica on an isolated goat farm, where it was hard to get even essential amenities.

Hufreesh has had many exhibitions of her work in Auroville, but perhaps this is the most evocative so far. The paintings, in their swirling lines and simple colours, seem to strip away surface inessentials to reveal something deeper, something more inwardly ‘vibratory’ than the simply pictorial.

Kratu, an Aurovilian artist, passed away on July 7th. Kratu was born on the 2nd May 1942 in Lonigo, Verona, Italy. In his early twenties, his passion for art led him to live in various countries and to hitch hike around the Mediterranean.

Rolf Lieser arrived in Auroville in 1981 and during his thirty years stay here, among other things, he practised and exhibited his paintings and sculptures, played music in various bands, did graphic design (including working with Kireet Joshi on certain projects), designed and constructed a number of houses, and started Kalabhumi community in the Cultural Zone.

BloomO! was launched during a warm and dynamically engaging event in Auroville as part of the Auroville week in February 2024, followed by a launch in Pondicherry.

David Blamey is an established London-based artist who works in the western tradition of post-minimal and conceptual art. His multidisciplinary practice includes a film, sound, exhibitions and the independent publishing imprint Open Editions.

Between 29th January and 10th February, in the Centre d’Art there was an exhibition of drawings by Ongkie Tan, titled ‘Inky Onky’. Ongkie Tan’s art is sharp, detailed, with a whirr of strokes, mostly in his trademark inky black and occasional subtle colours.

Once, in later years, I went to see Roger in Auromodѐle, but it was different from the other times I visited him. I cannot recall why I went there, to discuss what.

Lisa Suchanek’s second exhibition at the Centre d’Art, titled Soft Self: Inner Multiplicity and Gentleness, unfolds as a captivating blend of art and introspective research.

Roger Anger, the artist is the first ever exhibition of the work of an artist who, by the age of 40, had won several prestigious architectural prizes, but who never exhibited his paintings or sculptures during his lifetime.

Jacqueline Lacoste, Roger Anger’s long term companion and collaborator, came to Auroville in 1970. In a sunlit moment at the Centre d’Art exhibition Roger Anger, l’artiste, she shares insights into Roger's identity, where the lines separating artist and architect dissolve, and reflects on the transformative influence of his spiritual encounter with The Mother.

On October 13th, Colombian Lucas Posada arrived with his 10-year old son Salvador in Chennai to start his Newcomer year in Auroville. His wife Gloria and their 14-year old daughter Gaia would follow a month later.

Audrey Wallace Taylor, one of Auroville’s eminent artists, left her body on August 18th during a family visit in the USA. She had just become 90.

On February 11th, Eva passed away in her apartment in Citadines after a brain haemorrhage. She had just celebrated her 77th birthday on February 8th with her fraternal family in Citadines community, full of joy and deeply happy.

On 19 March, Eric Ramanujam passed away at the age of 58 in PIMS, where he had been taken due to advanced jaundice. Many of us know his beautiful and educative wild life stone paintings placed in Pitchandikulam, at the visitors walk way to the Visitors’ Centre, as well as at the toll plaza of the East Coast Road.

On February 18, 2022 Amit Bawa passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age 48. Hailing from Srinagar, Aamit came first to Auroville in 2008 and became Aurovilian in 2011.

The second edition of the Art Camp took place in Auroville from 20 to 27 March. For a week, twenty artists from the community and all over India had the opportunity to work together in the quiet atmosphere of the Tibetan Pavilion.

Auroville’s pioneer Peter Kuhrt – also known as Stream – passed away on January 28th in a Munich hospital due to heart failure. He was 76.

The 6th annual edition of Art for Land opens on 31st January at the Unity Pavilion. We invite you to join us as we celebrate a month of ‘art with heart’ by very talented artists, musicians and performers from all over.

Paolo Tommasi passed away in JIPMER on July 16th due to the COVID-19 virus. He had just turned 92 years. Paolo was born in Ancona, Italy in 1928.

Riju Anatoly Bukov left his body in Marika’s House at 10.30am on September 22nd. Having grappled with a weak heart for many years, a massive stroke proved to be too much.

Many years ago, in issue # 188 of September 2004, Auroville Today reported about the work of Hufreesh Dumasia Chopra, a young Auroville artist.

Born and brought up in the international context of Auroville, I teach English, I am a freelance photographer and content writer, massage therapist in the becoming, and am dedicated to all things community related.

Henk (Hendrik van Putten) of Petite Ferme left his body on February 16th at the Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, due to an asthma induced lung complication that flared up after his recent return from Holland.

As part of the ‘Art for Land’ initiative, for the past month there has been an exhibition in Unity Pavilion showcasing the work of two artists, Aurovilian Kratu and the late Usha Patel of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.

Jaipur, August 31st. “On behalf of the Jawahar Kala Kendra, (JKK) I welcome you to Breaking Ground, India’s first ever Ceramics Triennale,” said JKK’s director general Pooja Sood to the large audience.

In September 2017, the Chinese Ambassador to India Mr. Luo Zhaohui visited Auroville and the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Addressing a gathering at the 68th anniversary celebrations of the People’s Republic of China at New Delhi soon after his visits, Ambassador Zhaohui remembered Hu Hsu.

Auroville displays an increasing amount of art in public spaces. Two of the recent murals are telephone-themed and are located on telephone boxes on the Auroville main road near Kindergarten and the Eukies field.

The month of February is culture month par excellence. Auroville Today selected three performances and one exhibition for a brief review - acknowledging that many other events deserved to be reviewed as well.

Toranagallu is a remote village in Karnataka, near the ruins of Hampi, the capital of the once mighty Vijayanagara empire. Located in the heart of a high-grade iron ore belt, Toranagallu is home to the Jindal Steel Works, one of the factories of the JSW conglomerate, India’s second largest steel company.

Elvira, a Spanish Aurovilian from Catalonia, who lived with her partner Jean-François Audic in Pitchandikulam, passed away in Spain in the morning of Tuesday 9 August after a struggle with cancer.

Dasha came to Auroville when she was just one year old, and has been living here ever since. She is a self-taught artist who paints as a hobby and because she loves it.

Auroville.com’s website appears a tad conservative for an e-tailer (or e-commerce) unit. “Expect a lot of changes,” says Stephan. “In a few months, it will be all different!”

Theatre artist Veenapani Chawla, one of Auroville’s most dynamic neighbours, passed away on November 30 after suffering a heart attack following a pulmonary embolism.

There are three potteries in Auroville. The Aspiration Pottery is run by Michel. Yanne interviewed him recently about his work.

Tripura Pavillon, le centre culturel indien, accueille depuis plusieurs semaines une très interessante exposition de poteries et de “terre cuite” réalisées par Angad, Patrick et Michel, ainsi que des peintures et des miniatures de Anna-Maria.