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Art from the heart

Artists from around Mangalore find a place in the gallery, Jagat's, owned by artist Jagadish Ammunje

ALL IN ONE The gallery has a cafeteria or boutique look and an art can browse for hours here. Top right: Jagadish Ammunje

You can purchase everything in Mangalore — bungalows, apartments, fast cars and latest in gadgets, and now you can add art to that list.

The art gallery Jagat's, run by Jagadish Ammunje, now offers a variety of arts in the city that includes not just paintings but also clay, ethnic jewellery, grand visages, murals, embossed art, wood carvings and wall hangings that include Yakshagana characters.

Jagadish says the gallery has a cafeteria or boutique look and an art lover has everything at his disposal. There is no Do Not Touch sign anywhere in sight. The tastefully crafted wooden racks and cupboards remind one of a showroom of a multinational dressmaker.

But just like any artist, Jagadish is financially struggling to keep the gallery going. But that has not interfered with his love for local art forms. He says clay modelling is his passion and it has a great future in art especially in societies like Mangalore where multiple folk and performing arts touch the people everyday.

Jagadish loathes the idea of going to far-off metro cities to look for art. He says a treasure trove of art with different themes including nature, society, folk and portraits are available locally in abundance, and they should reach every house.

"There are artists in Mangalore just waiting to get a break," he says passionately. "Brahms's "Hungarian Dance" in 14 different symphonies is spread all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Our own Indian sitar concerts by Pandit Ravishankar and Anushka Shankar have started appealing to a new generation all over the world. So why not local art go elsewhere? There cannot be Van Goghs and M.F. Husians always, so art lovers might as well look around locally. They are bound to find something to their liking."

On the verge of his 50s, Jagadish's dream is to have a kalagram (art village) in Mangalore and a central art studio for young artists.

Jagadish can be contacted on 94481-38395 and Jagat's is on the third floor of Shah Complex, Bendoorwell.

M. RAGHURAM

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