A star hotel at Hindupur..
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Kalakriti Art Gallery
Started in 2002, Kalakriti Art Gallery has been one of the leading galleries in promoting contemporary South Asian art practices. Showcasing contemporary art from India and the sub-continent, ranging from historical figures like Raja Ravi Varma, and M.V. Dhurandhar, to iconic Modern Masters like Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore; to post-independence luminaries Ram Kumar, K.G. Subramanyan, Ganesh Pyne; to contemporary trailblazers like Jogen Chowdhury, G.R. Iranna, Jitish Kallat, Reena Saini Kallat, Surya Prakash, Thota Vaikuntam, K.S. Radhakrishna, Laxman Aelay, Seema Kohli, Bose Krishnamachari, Manish Pushkale; many emerging trailblazers like Om Soorya, Vinod Daroz, Vanita Gupta, Vinita Karim, Sujith S.N., Prabhakar Sahoo, Yassine Balbzioui, Yusuf, Wilson D’souza, Wonshondro Lyngdoh Buam, Emmanuelle Leblanc, Faiza Hassan, Hetal, Soghra Khurasani, Gouri Vermula, Anupama Alias, Ekta Singha, Bapi Das, to name few. Art critics like Alka Pande, Nancy Adajania, Ranjit Hoskote, and many more luminaries have held interactive sessions with the Hyderabad audience, which has helped the Hyderabad art scenario to mature over the past few years.
Art has exceeded the boundaries imposed by the conventional medium of paint and canvas. Art forms like photography, installation art, video art, and performance art are considered mainstream fine art now and Kalakriti Art Gallery seeks out different forms of art to promote a different perspective to its audience.
Kalakriti Art Gallery regularly organizes workshops, panel discussions, and film screenings that are centered around art. The gallery actively ventures into collaborative programs with Alliance Francaise, Goethe Zentrum, University of Hyderabad, etc., and has participated in a few national art fairs, namely Art Expo, Mumbai, India Art Fair, New Delhi, and The Luxury Expo, Hyderabad.
Kalakriti has been part of National and International Art fairs and presented exhibitions at India Art Fair every year, Kochi Biennale and also presented an exhibition titled “Kal Aaj aur Kal” on the Evolution of Hyderabad landscape at “Agora 2017” at the city of Bordeaux, France.
India Art Fair Participations :
– In the year 2018 : Showcased artist, Avijit Dutta’s Life is a Deck of Cards, and sculptures by eminent artists, Dhruv Mistry, Bimal Kundu, and Thota Vaikuntam.
– In the year 2019 : showcased eminent Hyderabad-based artist, Thota Vaikuntam’s personal collection of drawings. And Project booth showcasing artist, Neha Verma.
– In the year 2020 : Showcased artist, Avijit Dutta’s ‘SQ’ FT solo exhibit. And, the second booth showcased eminent artists, Jogen Chowdhury, Kishan Khanna, Thota Vaikuntam, and Ram Kumar’s exclusive sculpture series.
– In the year 2022 : The Gallery showcased Ceramic artist, Vinod Daroz.
– In the year 2023 : the Gallery showcased a solo exhibit of the artist, Avijit Dutta ‘ Masquerade- An Endless Drama’.
Upcoming Exhibitions
Previous Exhibitions
Krishnakriti Festival
Krishnakriti Festival
The Krishnakriti Foundation hosts Hyderabad’s largest art and cultural festival.The Krishnakriti Foundation has been involved in charitable programmes to include the artist community and to promote intangible Indian traditions and rare forms of visual and performing arts.
In each year, the Krishnakriti Festival seeks to foster conversation among members of various social strata and bring about notable changes. The Late Krishnachandra B. Lahoti, the father of Mr. Prshant Lahoti, is honored by this art event. In 2004, the Krishnakriti art festival was established with the goal of promoting regional artists, Hyderabad’s intangible culture, and its residents’ love for growing familiar with it. This event strives to promote local artists, customs, heritage conversations, and performances by renowned artists.
In addition to holding workshops, seminars, panel discussions, performances, and film screenings, the festival also hosts art exhibitions and photo competitions. that are popular in Hyderabad with a variety of people. In the course of the festival’s four to five days, more than 5,000 visitors and students participate in various outreach initiatives and attend the exhibitions.
Krishnakriti Foundation: The foundation is engaged in a range of activities to support and collaborate with emerging artists, endanger art forms and artist communities. Foundation conducts a number of public and community based activities like art exhibitions, residency projects, heritage walks, special curated heritage events, workshops and seminars.
At Hyderabad, Krishnakriti Foundation had jointly conducted “Bonjour India” – a celebration of art and culture of France in 2010, 2013 and now 2017-2018 and 2022.
Journey of 20 years in curating art festival (2004 to 2024)
One of Hyderabad’s oldest and most unique art and cultural festivals, with a primary focus on promoting art, local history, traditions, and cultural places of Telangana, will be held on this platform for artists, local heritage enthusiasts, curators, cultural organizations, and Telangana tourism. The Telangana government and other liberal organizations support this art festival. The festival has advanced to a new level and established a name for itself in the art world during the last 20 years.
One of Hyderabad’s most significant art festivals, combining performances, heritage walks, lecture series, exhibitions, and art installations. It provided a venue for emerging artists, young curators, and heritage specialists to collaborate on a specifically curated art festival. The exhibitions featured the works of India’s most well-known artists as well as outstanding performances by renowned artists and musical ensembles. During the Krishnakriti Festival, around 5000 members of the public engage with various artistic mediums.
Incorporated in the memory of Shri Krishnachandra B. Lahoti, since 2003, The Krishnakriti Foundation has been engaged in non-profit activities for the upliftment of the artist community and promotion of rare forms of art and culture of India.
Festival: –
Every year in January first week, The cultural extravaganza agglomerates eminent artists in art and culture and literary stalwarts to showcase their finest achievements to the denizens and guests of Hyderabad.
The festival conducts workshops, seminars, panel discussions, plays, book readings, screenings and concerts that appeal to a wide range of age and interests. Over 5,000 visitors take part in the 20 – 30 events that span 4 -5 days of the festival.
At Hyderabad, Krishnakriti had jointly conducted “Bonjour India” – a celebration of art and culture of France in year 2010, 2013 and now 2017-2018 and 2022.
Street Art Festival – Hyderabad: –
Since 2016, Krishnakriti Foundation and Art@Telangana associated with the Govt. of Telangana, and the Street Art Foundation jointly conduct the Telangana Kala Mela and the Street Art Festival.
As part of the Street Art Festival, the area of MS Maqta was given a much-needed facelift with entire buildings acting as the canvas for artists that visualize and execute in Mega sized canvases.
Public Art Projects
Street Art Festival – Hyderabad: Since 2016, Krishnakriti Foundation and Art@Telangana associated with the Govt. of Telangana, and the Street Art Foundation jointly conduct the Telangana Kala Mela and the Street Art Festival. As part of the Street Art Festival, the area of MS Maqta was given a much-needed facelift with entire buildings acting as the canvas for artists that visualize and execute in Mega sized canvases. The foundation has been instrumental in installation of the iconic Love Hyderabad sculpture on Necklace road which blends with the iconic megalithic Buddha Statue in Hussain Sagar to create an unforgettable impression of the city. Love Vizak Sculpture: The foundation has been instrumental in installation of the iconic Love Vizak sculpture on R K Beach road which blends with the iconic megalithic Submarine & TU museum to create an unforgettable impression of the city. Public Art Project: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Krishnakriti Foundation are going to sign an agreement where Krishnakriti would help with all Public Art projects in the city.
Kalakriti Archives
Kalakriti Archives (KA), one of largest private archives of vintage maps of Indian Subcontinent. It also comprises a significant collection of rare photographs, prints and artifacts primarily of South Asian countries. It includes the Prshant Lahoti Personal Collection (PLPC), which has over ten thousand vintage maps spanning five centuries, as well as over nine thousand vintage images from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
KA has quickly become a leader in the visual record of South Asian history, politics, and culture.
The maps, which range from pre-survey painted cosmological and pilgrimage route-maps to modern scientific maps with greater plane metric accuracy, are mostly about India and other South Asian countries and regions, revealing the changing modes of terrestrial vision and imagination over a long period of time.
Maps: Our wide collection of Indian maps can be broadly categorized into the following categories:
Pre-Survey Traditional Painted Maps: We have an outstanding collection of early painted maps depicting Hindu sacred geographies as well as sites and routes to religious sites, or Tirtha. Although the maps with traditional artistic styles and cosmic imagination reflect the devotee’s experience rather than the topographical portrayal of the actual locales, they exhibit significant geographic coherence.
Early Scientific Maps: Following Vasco Da Gama’s arrival in the subcontinent in 1498, European maps depicting India with ever-greater planimetric features represented a break with the spiritual heritage of geographic vision. In these early trade maps, the familiar pattern of modern India can be seen gradually taking shape.
Early Colonial Maps: These are the maps that detail the complicated and contentious ties that existed between many European powers and significant Indian states in order to gain control of the Indian Subcontinent. The strong graphic depictions tell the highly ambiguous story of ambition, bravery, conflict, cunning, and intellect as India was forcibly opened up to the rest of the globe.
British Colonial Maps: The collection has civil and military maps and plans depicting Britain’s engagement with India, the mercantile and political history of the East India Company, and the history of British imperial authority gradually consolidating up to 1947.
City Survey Maps: The valuable collection of municipal survey maps of Hyderabad produced between 1912 and 1915 under Leonard Mann’s direction, a mining engineer with the Nizam’s Government, shows the revitalized city spaces following the devastating Musi river flood in 1908.
Photographs: KA’s collection of Photographs contribute to research on the history of early photography in India, as well as ethnography, architecture, and archaeology. Rare cityscape pictures of India’s major colonial and princely cities are very well represented in the collections.
Rare images by early European photographers, such as Samuel Bourne and Francis Frith, who traveled to India in the second half of the nineteenth century and professionally captured India’s natural and geographic beauty, as well as its anthropological and archaeological history, are among them. Aside from European images, we have a vast collection of Indian photographs. The original, authentic images of Raja Deen Dayal, the most famous Indian photographer in colonial India, form the foundation of the Indian photographic collection.
Popular Prints: We have over 300 popular oleographs and chromolithographs by Raja Ravi Varma, M. V. Dhurandhar, Bamapada Banerjee, and many other lesser-known artists of the so-called ‘Calendar Prints’ from 19th and 20th century India. We also offer some rare chromolithographs issued by the Poona Chitrashala Press, one of India’s first fine art lithography studios recognised for historical portraits, iconic prints, and mythological prints.
Etchings:
Exhibitions
Cartographier L’Inde
Cartographic journey of the French in India – Curated by Supriya Lahoti & Prshant Lahoti 2 June – 20 July 2022, HICC, Hyderabad.
Cartographier L’Inde
In 2022, Mapping the World: Perspectives from Asian Cartography was shown at the National Library of Singapore.
Windows to God
An Exhibition of the Popular Prints from 19th and 20th Century Curated by Arka Prava Bose.
17 May – 17 June 2019, Kalakriti Art Gallery, Hyderabad.
Travel Back in time –
Ramana Bandi
9th – 13th January 2019
Zanana Mahal & Princess Esin women educational center, Hyderabad
Memory of Frozen time
Ravikanth Masuram
Kalakriti Contemporary
Club Botanika, Hyderabad
8th – 24th January 2019
Block by Block – Shikha Pandey
Following the exhibitions, two scholars sponsored by IFA and The Tata Trust are conducting research on the maps from the collection of Kalakriti Archives.
5-13th January 2019
Purani Haweli
Mapping Dewan Deodi
Sirisha Indukuri & Kishore Krishnamoorthi
5-13th January 2019
Purani Haweli
Secunderabad – curated by Ramana Bandi
5th – 16th January 2019
Secunderabad Club, Secunderabad.
Spectacular: Cities & People curated by Deepthi Sashidharan
4th – 17th January 2019
State Art Gallery
From Atom to Pixel
Nandan Giya
Kalakriti Art Gallery
3-16th January 2019
Space, Time & Place was also displayed at IISc Bangalore from 19th March – 18 April 2018.
The Munn Maps –
A collaborative project between IFA & KA resulting in heritage walks and a range of public art projects.
Kal Auj aur Kal
A Journey to Hyderabad’s glorious Past and a glimpse into its visionary future.
14-23rd September 2017
Galerie Marengu, Bordeaux, France
Ganga: River of Life & Eternity curated by Shakeel Hossain at National Museum, 20th May 2017 to 20th June 2017.
Curated by Vivek Nanda and Alexander Johnson, the exhibition titled Cosmology to Cartography: A Cultural Journey of Indian Maps was held from in the National Museum, New Delhi, showcasing sum total of 72 vintage old Indian maps of which 70 maps were collected from the Prshant Lahoti Collection in KA and only two maps from the National Museum.
This exhibition presents the multiple cultural perspectives towards representing the ordered world in the Indian sub-continent.
The evolution from early cosmological representations and pictographic depictions of ritual landscapes and sacred pilgrimage sites to the evolution of modern cartography is a testament of the diverse, competing and global interests and influences – religious, economic and political – which have contributed to the perception of `India’ as we know it today.
Exhibited at
Kochi Biennale, 2014-15
National Museum New Delhi, 2016-17
Krishnakriti Festival, Hyderabad, 2017-18
Indian Institute of Bangalore, 2017-18
Kalakriti Archives participated in the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2014and exhibited its collection of regional and religious maps from the Indian sub-continent.
12 December 2014 to 23 March 2015
200 years of Secunderabad –
HUDA office, Begumpet, Hyderabad
2006
How to get involved
Kalakriti Publications
Lashkar
The Story of Secunderabad
Narendra Luther
2010
Cosmology to Cartography
A Cultural Journey of Indian Maps :
Vivek Nanda and Alexander Johnson
2016
Kal Aaj Aur Kal
A Journey of Hyderabad
Past, Present and Future
Curated by Prshant Lahoti
2019
Urban Frames, 16th KF2019
Visual Practices and Transitions
Curated by Abeer Gupta
Director of Krishnakriti Foundation
Retrospective
Retrospective 1955 -2013
Jogen Chowdhury
A Perceptive Eye
Retrospective 1960 onwards
Surya Prakash
Sardar Mahal
Sardar Mahal
A deodi from medieval Hyderabad called Sardar Mahal dates back to the 20th century and is located nearby from Charminar. It is one of Hyderabad’s finest and beautiful deodis, having been constructed during the Nizam dynasty. This deodi (royal palace) has been influenced by a blend of Persian, European, and Indian architectural styles.This majestic deodi from the Nizam era lies in the center of Hyderabad’s tourism zone.
In 1900 CE, Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, built the Sardar Mahal for Sardar Begum, one of his adored consorts.
Sardar Begum, however, refused to reside in this symbol of love since it fell short of her expectations. Sardar Begum never remained there since she disapproved of the construction. But her name was given to the structure. The Sardar Mahal had been taken over by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in 1965 primarily as a result of unpaid property taxes.
In order to develop a museum, cultural interpretation centre, and even to restore the heritage building, Kalakriti India recently signed an MoU and entered into a tripartite agreement with the State government and the Quli Qutub Shah Urban Development Authority (QQSUDA).
Krishnakriti / FIET / Lahoti Trust
Incorporated in the memory of Shri Krishnachandra B. Lahoti, since 2003, The Krishnakriti Foundation has been engaged in non-profit activities for the upliftment of the artist community and promotion of rare forms of art and culture of India.
Every year in January first week, the cultural extravaganza agglomerates eminent artists in art and culture and literary stalwarts to showcase their finest achievements to the denizens and guests of Hyderabad.
Scholarship
The Krishnakriti Foundation provides scholarship to deserving students in the field of fine arts based on the merit of current achievements and potential. The students are provided financial assistance, material assistance and networking and exposure to help them achieve higher objectives.
In association with Govt. of France through their Embassy in India, the Krishnakriti Foundation provides fellowships to study fine arts and architecture at some of the finest educational institutes of France for the last 15 years.
He is also the managing trustee of Franco Indian Educational Trust, set up to with an aim of sending higher number of Indian students to France to study with the help of CSR activities of various organisations.
Besides through their family trust, they provide scholarship to over 50 students every year.
Reforming Inmates
Krishnakriti Foundation works with the Department of Prisons of Govt. of Telangana to conduct art camps at three jails – Chanchalguda, Cherlapally and Warangal. The art camps serve as creative outlets for the inmates through which they can express their emotions and desires. A periodic invitation of the art created by the inmates is conducted at Kalakriti Art Gallery and the proceeds are used for the welfare of the inmates.
Timeles
Hyderabad is now a metropolitan city with tangible and cultural history from all over the world. The project is referred to as “TIMELES… a magnificent experience! and will carry you back to the past. We seek to provide a comprehensive way of experiencing the city’s cultural fabric and architectural history. The goal of TIMELES is to give the average person a sense of ownership over and responsibility for the city’s legacy.
The key components of comprehending the historical significance of the city will include heritage, culture, crafts, cuisine, art, natural history, entertainment, and music. TIMELES is a platform for providing information to tourists, corporations, students, and visiting delegations with a full and immersive experience.
TIMELES offers a distinctive platform for history aficionados, cultural buff, art connoisseurs, and urban explorers to discover more about the local culture. Our tours or experiences are created in a way that encourages participation and entertainment of the city’s very old customs. For our audience, we offer both guided excursions and a virtual encounter trough TIMELES App.
Our venture draws in a diverse group of people, including students, tourists and international groups. For our visitors and history explorers, we have modules created for each age group that offer full-day, half-day, city tours, and overnight programs.
TIMELES Historical Walks:
Travelling back in time to discover the empire’s polity, socioeconomic circumstances, cross-cultural trade, architecture, gender studies, and intriguing wartime tales. Lively experience of Hyderabad, a historical city that demonstrates how traditional values and urban life can coexist.
TIMELES Museums:
These are the informative and entertaining trails at some of the city’s museums where you may learn about, see, and engage with antiques, Deccan paintings, Telangana crafts, and Salarjung’s art collection. Experience the city’s three largest museums from the 19th and 20th centuries, which are constructed in Indo-Saracenic style, to transfer the exploratory study of Deccan region artefact.
TIMESLES Forts and Palaces:
An in-depth tour of some of Hyderabad’s stunning deodis, palaces, tombs, and the Golconda fort will allow you to learn about the city’s genuine royal past and see how Qutub Shahi and Asaf Jahi’s traditions and architectural principles influenced its culture. Hyderabad is a historical city.
TIMELES Cultural tour:
This city has strong ties to dance, traditional performing arts, and music. We will give you the opportunity to witness an entertaining performance by some renowned local actors and artists. a fascinating investigation of several art genres in a setting rich in heritage site.
TIMELES Culinary tour:
An understanding of the traditional culinary technique of creating, storing, and distribution customs in Hyderabad as well as a taste of home-cooked food.
TIMELES Spiritual tour:
Investigating Hyderabad’s secular and pluralistic nature can help you better understand the spiritual practiced of the various cultures and will help the city become more cosmopolitan as time goes on.
TIMELES Art & craft tour: Discovering Telangana’s art, which ranges from Deccan miniature paintings to experimental 21st-century art with a dash of original Dakhani metal works also visiting the work spaces( art studio) of renowned regional artists from Telangana.
TIMELES Bowli:
These are the most thrilling sights to see when looking out over the city from Hussain Sagar. A sunset-viewing boat excursion lasting an hour in the evening investigating some of the major iconic structures and the beautiful view of necklace road. These tours are an experience of other water sources (stepwells bowli, the city’s Musi River) for understanding the traditional water harvesting processes.
TIMELES Shopping:
The tour will take place in the evening and will include stops at the famed vegetable market (Mozzam Jahi Market), the flower market, the Laad Bazar, and the Pearl Bazar.
TIMELES Unique experience: These are the experiences that have been carefully chosen to help the audience comprehend the topography, the natural beauty, and the cultural fabric of the city.
TIMELES Private & luxury: Customized module with individualized city exploration and upscale breakfast facility and dining options in historical settings like a palace or bowli (stepwell).
TGC
The Gallery Cafe: Well-curated cafe and venue for art enthusiasts with the essence of modern art is well-known as The Gallery Cafe (TGC). It is one of the most happening cafes in Hyderabad where young cowards love to come. The Gallery Cafe is a free venue for launching artists and unearthing hidden potential, as the name suggests.The Gallery Cafe stands out with its entirely vegetarian menu and has acquired a fan-base for the creations by its award winning Chefs de Cuisine.
It enhances Kalakriti Art Gallery’s role as a place for reflection and conversation. The Gallery Cafe distinguishes out for its entirely vegetarian menu, serene ambiance, and room for emerging artists. Influenzer and YouTube vloggers use it as one of the Instagrammable cafes to create reels and shoot short films for different product promotion. Art encompasses the environment at The Gallery Cafe. Be it the designer hand-painted furniture, or the art on the walls or the sculptures. All interior elements are also available for sale and the proceeds are shared with the original artists.
Prior to the pandemic, the Gallery Cafe had been a thriving center for cultural activities and launchpad for musicians, poets and dramatists.The cultural platform has been the birthplace for many collaborations and formation of bands. We endeavor to recreate this rich and vibrant ambience of The Gallery Cafe at our new location now in Kalakriti Art Complex, Road no. 4, Banjara Hills.
The Gallery Cafe is one of the top ten cafes in Hyderabad according to the New York Times because it offers the best continental cuisine, furnishings, ambiance, and services.