The ECAPA exhibition in Delhi is helping neurodiverse artists join the mainstream, as art lovers and celebrities join hands to exhibit and buy incredible works.
The ECAPA exhibition in Delhi is helping neurodiverse artists join the mainstream, as art lovers and celebrities join hands to exhibit and buy incredible works.
Many young adults with intellectual disabilities do not have the opportunity to exhibit their work in a gallery. The Arts Sanctuary Initiative, a social enterprise started in Bengaluru by the parents of a child with Down syndrome, however, makes room for their talents.
As part of this initiative, an exhibition of his paintings, pen drawings, digital art, photographs and short films made on mobile is going on in Delhi. The four-day exhibition, starting October 14 at Stir Gallery, features 85 selected works of art from 47 artists between the ages of 16-42. Nature pictures, abstract landscapes, wildlife, people and beautiful surroundings in bright colors dominate the collection this year
Shalini Gupta, who started The Art Sanctuary in 2018, felt that many parents fail to recognize how art can improve the lives of children with cognitive disabilities. “My daughter, who loves photography and is a coder, was finishing school and I felt she needed a creative push and support,” she says.
This is the second time the eCAPA of young adults with intellectual disabilities is being held physically since the Art Biennale was launched in 2019. It was moved online during the two years of COVID-19. The opening ceremony in Delhi attracted 150 works and over 50 per cent of the artworks were sold, but sales declined during the pandemic.
A painting by Madhav Krishnan, a 19-year-old artist from Chennai, titled Crackers. photo credit: special arrangement
Shalini got the idea to showcase her artistic talents after visiting the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2018. “In commercial art platforms, even a small painting of 3×4 feet sells for lakhs. We need to create awareness and benchmark specific art by intellectually challenged people,” she says.
When artworks from individuals with developmental delays were no longer considered equal to artists of caliber for display in art galleries, Shalini turned out to help make connections and change perceptions. She adds, “It is important to understand where work comes from because it has an impact on people.”
Shalini found friends of Bose Krishnamachari, co-founder, director and president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, and Amit Gupta, owner and curator of the Delhi-based art gallery. With both of them ready to help out for a cause, eCAPA became the nation’s first professionally curated cutting-edge show of intellectually challenged young adults. Shalini says that this is an attempt to change the lives of neurodiverse artists. “We encourage them to express themselves, hone their skills by providing practical support and let the world appreciate it without prejudice.”
Forest by 20 year old Gayatri Gupta from Bangalore | photo credit: special arrangement
Twenty years ago, Shalini started a parenting support group called accompany (together). “There were not many resources of knowledge available in those days and I traveled the country organizing workshops to share my experiences and exchange information. This helped create a pan-India network of parents who now understand how desperate their children are for help by the age of 16,” she says.
Parents are now taking their children into a world that was oblivious to their artistic talent. Each interested participant is allowed to send a maximum of five works that go through a rigorous selection process by Bose Krishnamachari that assesses the artist’s free creative spirit, extraordinary subjects and abstract images.
The eCAPA exhibition has become a much awaited annual event ahead of Diwali. Shalini says, “Our ultimate goal is social inclusion and economic empowerment of our children and we are back with a fresh collection and new energy.”
(ECAPA 2022 by Neurodiverse Young Adults by 16 October Vis a Vis/India STIR Gallery, 2 North Drive, Block-C Westend, DLF Chhatarpur Farms, 10am to 7.30pm)