Celebrating another Milestone! ‘The 31st Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation Annual Awards for Upcoming Young Artists’, Dhoomimal Gallery’s Annual Flagship Event. Even as the global economy makes an umpteen effort to revive amongst the several challenges being faced both by developed and developing nations, art continues to create a buzz around. With several good shows happening regularly on the art base, the art fraternity seems to regain its fervour and quintessence. The art lovers, philanthropists, connoisseurs and industry leaders have come forward to encourage all creative forms of art. Taking the Foundation’s aim to the fore; to promote and nurture, young contemporary artists - entries for participation were called for between the age group 18-30. Artists using varied mediums made submissions via e-mails in digital format from throughout the country. In addition to this we also invited submissions from young autistic artists in the professional grade this year, to demonstrate the values of inclusion and spread Autism Awareness.In association with AuTypical.in, Dhoomimal Gallery has created a section to showcase these artworks. This year, participation of Autistic artists has been a new flavour that will be introduced in professional art for the first time amongst the Art Galleries in New Delhi and will be unique in its treatment. World over also there are very few examples of such socially supportive events. We received nearly 500 entries abiding by the specified criteria’s out of these 66 artists including the Autypical artist were selected by our very proficient and enduring jury which comprised of Ms. Kanchan Chander, Ms. Manisha GeraBaswani, Ms. Mithu Sen, Ms. Pallavi Khandelwal, Dr. Rashmi Das and Mr. Rahul Kumar. I was amazed to see young people doing such innovative and experimental works with so much dedication and focus in their streams, be it paintings, printmaking, sculptures, video and engineered installations. Not forgetting to mention a young artist who chooses to communicate and express through – the miniature model of the ‘Barbershop’, done with intricate precision and tries to convey, how the barbershop was completely desolated which otherwise was always a centre for activity where exchange of conversations took place and how during the pandemic, it lost all its allure. The fallen chairs shown in the miniature shop and the empty mirrors on the walls gazing across depict reality of the times. Delicate Ceramic torso, a video installation of post cards and subjects relating to on the edge contemporary style, seen in the artworks with tiles and staircases in the topography, depicting socio economic issues. A hung clothesline and captivatingly designed clouds, bold and strong sculptures addressing concerns of human nature.

On my ardent observation, there seems to be more submissions on ‘paper’ as a medium, infact the printmaking submissions look very promising and I personally felt good that the youngsters are showing incredible interest and producing remarkable works. In line with us while the Gallery prepares for a major printmaking show by the members of the group – ‘Multiple encounters’ by the year’s end. On the whole collectively, all the artists exhibited have been either influenced by their socio-economic situations, the unforgettable pandemic and the concerns for the Environment and Mother Nature. Established in 1936, Dhoomimal Gallery is the oldest Contemporary Art gallery in India. Dhoomimal has felicitated several young artists who presently have become known names and established themselves in the art fraternity. Every year we give four scholarships to young artists (working across mediums) decided by our panel of esteemed judges. In previous years our jury has included renowned artists such as K.S. Kulkarni, Krishen Khanna, Bimal Dasgupta, G.R.Iranna, Pooja Iranna, Jagannath Panda etc. Awardees in the past include renowned names such as Sonia Khurana, G.R.Iranna, Nidhi Aggarwal, Hem Raj and manymore.

This year, the Ravi Jain Memorial Foundation completes 31 successful years of encouraging and promoting young talents in the country. The foundation was instituted to pay homage to Late Mr. Ravi Jain in 1991. Mr. Ravi Jain played a pivotal role in establishing Indian art on the world map by promoting young artists in the 60’s andthe 70’s. Most of the artists who today are Masters of Modern Indian Art have had their first exhibition at Dhoomimal Gallery during Mr. Ravi Jain’s reign. His vision was always to promote more and more new talents as he felt if the art movement is to be perpetuated, we cannot get caught up with a few names and constantly need to look for new talents in the country.

Mrs. Uma Jain decided to institute a foundation in his name after his premature demise in 1991. The prime objective of this foundation is to encourage young artists throughout the country, nurture and be instrumental in their growth and progress. Every year, on Mr. Ravi Jain’s birthday on 16th September, we aim to put together an all-India exhibition for young contemporary artists between the age group 18-35. This year we are inaugurating The Ravi Jain Memorial Exhibition on 29th of September 2021 which also happens to be the Death Anniversary of my father. However, I am overwhelmed by the tremendous response we have received this year with over 500 participating entries from all over India.

Taking forward the Foundation’s goal, which is not only to provide this platform to showcase their works, but in addition to this the foundation also awards four fellowships every year. In the earlieryears, the jury deciding the awards was independent and comprised of Senior Artists, Sculptors, Art Teachers, Diplomats, Critics and ge neral art lovers from the public. Over the years, stalwarts such as J. Swaminathan, B.C. Sanyal, K.S. Kulkarni, Bimal Das Gupta, Anjolie Ela Menon, Krishen Khanna, Shanko Chaudhary, Keshav Malik and others were part of the jury and have several times graced the occasion. In the foundation’s journey of 31years, over 100 artists have been awarded, and I hold pride in saying that most of them are celebrated names in the art world today. The work that this foundation has been doing is more relevant in today’s times than ever before. Unfortunately, today many of us gallerists have become mere traders of artworks. Gone are the days when every gallery had its own artists to promote and calendars announcing dates and events around them. I am happy to announce that we are working on putting up a digital repository to support our teams to publish well researched.