5 Most Famous Art Festivals in India

India, a delightful blend of cultures, consistently persists a captivating and spellbinding beauty for tourists of all age groups. The one thing that joins the nation as a string of pearls is its beautiful and intriguing festivals. For artists and art admirers, a versatile art festival can be a genuinely improving and incredible learning experience. These fests and art shows are an opportunity to showcase Indian painting and new art formats.
In India, the art festivals consist of an explosion of colors, folk music, exhibition of traditional Indian culture in unexpected ways, mesmerizing landscapes, and much more.
Let’s explore the 5 most famous art festivals in India that are catching attention across the globe:
- Kala Ghoda Art Festival:

- Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is a collective expression festivity occasion held in the regions of the Kala Ghoda District of South Mumbai. The zone is spotted with a few art museums and exhibitions, including the National Gallery of Modern Art and the Prince of Wales Museum.
- It is a nine-day long festival, is a common expressions festivity occasion held in South Mumbai and has completed 16 years by amusing the art lovers.
- Today, it has become a total display of Indian artistic expressions, including theater and shows, street art, Gothic, and different styles of recorded South Mumbai design and a shopping event. Over a long time, it has been trendy to the Southern Mumbai zone of Kala Ghoda and now spreading out to neighboring auditoriums, to consolidate the rise in support and footfalls.
- Venue: Different parts of Kala Ghoda District of South Mumbai
- Event Month: February
- Entry Fee: Free
- India Art Fair:

- India Art Fair started in 2011, and from then the celebration has risen as a typical culture and art festival in India.
- Going on for 10-20 days, the occasion is a yearly undertaking held at different places of New Delhi. This festival is associated with government and non-government agencies, civil and corporate societies.
- India Art Fair has its unique culture and art exhibit that incorporates artwork, theater, and other performing arts, local movies, and creative programs, among others. Some leading galleries and artists from Asia, the USA, and Europe are participating in this festival.
- Venue: Thyagaraj Stadium, New Delhi
- Event Month: January-February
- Entry Fee: Rs. 700, Rs. 400 (Student Pass), Rs. 1,000 (Weekend Pass), Rs. 4,000 (Preview Pass)
India Art Festival, a contemporary art fair founded in 2011 is a new model for dialogue and collaborations between art galleries, art dealers, art buyers, artists, interior designer, architects and art connoisseurs who come together every year under roof. India Art Festival (IAF) along with mid-level and major art galleries also provides the opportunity to emerging, independent artists to get discovered and enjoy the attention along with the established artists to engage contemporary painting
Art Festivals in India showcase incredible glimpses of intriguing and colorful shades of arts in an amazing way. Some of the astounding Indian artifacts and vibrant culture of the country is put to display and amuses various travelers.
- Taj Mahotsav:

- Your art explores holidays in India are incomplete if you didn’t visit Taj Mahotsav, one of the brightest after art festivals in India. If you wish to see the handlooms, woodwork, local handicrafts from around India under one roof, then visit this art festival.
- This is a 10-day long celebrated art festival held at Shilpgram. Many tourists from India and abroad are visiting Taj Mahotsav, which offers them a chance to take a brief look at art, vibrant cultures of our country.
- One of the most dynamic and beautiful art festivals in India is participating in more than 300 artists across India. Apart from art collections, you can enjoy great reasonable local dishes and folk dance from Uttar Pradesh at Taj Mahotsav.
- Venue: Shilpgram, Agra
- Month: February
- Entry Fee: Free ( for Children up to 5 years), Rs. 10 (for Children between 5-10 years), Rs.50 (for Adults)
- Ajanta-Ellora International Festival:
- Ajanta Ellora festival offers a fascinating and energizing approach to explore hundreds of years old architectural tradition incorporated in the historical structures of Aurangabad.
- It was before known as ‘Ellora festival’ and was held in the wonderful Ellora Caves. Since 2002, the place of the celebration has been moved to Soneri Mahal. Presently, the Ajanta Ellora festival is a significant observance in India and gives a world-class stage to several Indian old styles and folk artists and instrumental and vocal performers.
- It is a three-day-long festival and promotes handicraft richness in Kalagram. The point of this colorful festival is to help Indian artists’ talents and is directed by the Tourism Department of Maharashtra government.
- Venue: Soneri Mahal, Aurangabad
- Month: January
- Entry Fee: Free
- Bengaluru International Art Festival:

- The Bengaluru International Arts Festival is the ideal place where you can see the entertaining performance of Chennai entertainers, and you can move on the worldwide music performed by artists from Sri Lanka or Norway.
- It is a nine-day festival consisting of stand-up comedy, folk art, music, and dance performance.
- A significant event in this art festival was established by Dr. Suma Sudhindra, a prestigious Veena supporter, and Veena Murthy Vijay, popular Bharatanatyam, and Kuchipudi artist.
- Venue: Bengaluru
- Month: Not yet decided
- Entry Fee: Free
Art is said to prosper just when the artists are acknowledged as their vulnerable selves and are acknowledged for what they are. Be a piece of these celebrations on your next holidays in India and help in making something significant. Indian culture is vibrant, and to see its prosperity; you should visit different art festivals in India to unfold awesome paintings and colorful artworks and to understand the ethos of Indian culture.
India is a country with its thriving heritage and incredible history. Indian paintings poignantly represent the traditions, culture, history as well as landscape of the country. The culture of this country comes alive in its old cities and archaeological buildings as well. With our great collection at IndianArtZone, we bring you art paintings of Indian Folk-art paintings, traditional paintings, cultural paintings, cityscape painting, landscape paintings, etc. Visit www.indianartzone.com and buy Indian Painting Online at IndianArtZone. Get vibrant collection of Indian theme paintings online at affordable prices.
What is Surrealism in the true sense?
Simply put, Surrealism is the depiction of unchained thoughts from the subconscious. The concept of Surrealism has always existed in one way or the other through dreams and psychoanalysis findings that has proved the human urge to explore artistic illustrations oozing out of the deep dungeons of the mind.
While you wonder what really fueled the movement of Surrealism, it is the outburst of the irrational mind that was enslaved by traditional reality and the element of reasoning over a long period of time.
Surrealist artists found strange beauty in depicting neglected or discovered objects, bizarre and unusual, and enjoyed exploring linguistic and autobiographical ideas.
The exploration of Surrealistic art form created two emerging trends among the artists – Figurative and Abstract. Figurative artwork was famous in the initial years where people used different shapes to depict hallucinatory images of our surroundings. Abstract paintings started to gain momentum when more artists romanticized unrecognizable paintings that were unprecedented and very symbolic.
Surrealism: Key Terms and Concepts
Automatic writing
In art making, automatism was adopted as an important part of the creative process by various artists.Surrealist artists adhered to this by going with the flow, creating fantastical and in their works that sprung to their minds.
Association
It refers to the connections made between the absurd and the spaces between the thoughts and ideas that form in the subconscious mind. Surrealists enjoyed correlating such thoughts, no matter how different they were.
Irrationality
The roots of Surrealism point to the productivity of rationality from the effects of World War I to the middle and upper classes. Surrealists believed that only a part of the irrational, completely different could be approached exclusively by the irrational mind.
Being irrational is the biggest part of surrealist identity. For example, a watch may suddenly start to melt, a man’s facial features may feel like an apple, and it may start to shower on men.
Dreams & Fantasies
With the fantasies now mentioned, we can easily get the next attribute of Surrealism – dreams and fantasies. Surrealist painting extracts scenes from the unconscious mind to create art without logical comprehension.
Just as Impressionists find inspiration in nature, so do surrealists find themselves in this ‘mental autonomy’. They try to channel this illusion to unleash the power of their imagination, which is derived from the dream scenes in which they encounter this fantasy.
The Unconscious
An important factor in Surrealism is dizziness, but what does tapping into it really mean? It means suppressing memories, our indescribable fears, and turning that ability into something creative.
This is where the crazy world of surrealist art comes into play. That tense dream of being in a fun house with a hundred glasses and no escape; Those with critters crawling across you; Something infamous that you fall free to your death.
All such themes inspired surrealists to create fantasies and texts that emerged from that movement. This, even after a little psychoanalysis, sometimes proves why we do not know what we want or why our bodies behave like that. It is through this fear that we too can develop such surrealist thinking into anything we want.
Impact and Influence of Surrealism
Surrealism has been one of the most influential cultural movements of the 20th century. Its global impact has been strong in many areas of life, from art and literature to philosophy, politics and social theory.
Surrealism also played an integral role in the development of the feminist art movement. Artists still use key surrealist ideas in their work, exploring psychoanalytic theory, bizarre, non-fiction, symbolic language, and more in their contemporary contexts.
Why Collect Surrealist Artwork?
There are many types of artwork to explore and discover about the genre of Surrealism. Surrealist works that have been influential in the art world for decades will vary in stylistics.
Surrealist art is innovative and transformative, and the viewer can express wonderful, imaginary worlds that help them escape from reality. It is a versatile genre that can be expressed through a variety of media through sculpture, film, painting, lithography, engraving, photography and more.
The wide-ranging explorations of this genre demonstrates why Surrealism continues to influence contemporary artists today. Surrealism evokes emotion through obscure, mesmerising and metaphorical ways – it presents a whole new perspective and innovative way of thinking, which is what has made the genre so widely collected.
How to Start Collecting Surrealist Artwork?
If you are interested in collecting a Surrealist work of art, it is important to gather some research about some of your favorite artists from the genre to find themes or images you like. There are a full range of styles, media and formal elements to consider
It can be anything from the artist’s bright color, subtle technique or the finest thing that catches your eye instantly.
Surrealist Art for Home Decor
Surrealist art can dramatically change the atmosphere in a room and certainly create character within a space.People show great interest in the artwork of the Surrealism movement that is a century old due to the fact that it’s fun, pretty and elegant to adorn their homes with such intriguing wall art painting . If you are looking for a unique area that can create an instant ‘wow’ factor, hanging a surrealist artwork will definitely create the most desired effect.
This Studio Art – Ceramics program at South Dakota State University
You are passionate about your art, and you want to share your talents with the world. This Studio Art – Ceramics program at South Dakota State University will help you develop both the creative and professional skills you need for a future as a studio artist in today’s global art communities.
The Courses Include
- Drawing
- Design Color
- First Review
- Drawing – Figurative
- Drawing : Mixed Media (COM)
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Ceramics
This Studio Art – Ceramics program at South Dakota State University will be a good fit if you:
- You have strong skills in art or design
- You work well with technology
- You are committed to developing your talent
- You have a creative, expressive, curious personality
- You like to design and build things
Dancehouse Art residency in Australia.
About
Dancehouse is piloting a new residency program: On Residence, offering Australian independent dance artists time, space, and cash to create and connect with Dancehouse’s network of dance-loving organizations and their communities in outer-metropolitan and regional Victoria and NSW.
The art residency supports
- A cash fee of $2,500 (equivalent to 1 artist for 2 weeks, or 2 artists for 1 week)
- Access to at least 2 weeks of space On Residence with the host partner
- Accommodation either on site with the host or nearby
Additionally, some On Residence recipients will be supported with:
- Per diems for up to 2 weeks for 1 person (at $372.04 per week).
- Ground travel including: MYKI, petrol, car use or car hire where applicable
- Access costs (e.g childcare, support workers).
Number of awards
Not mentionned.
Intake Place
Australia.
Deadline
Currently closed.
Duration of the art residency
on to two weeks.
3D Art program at Full Sail University
Full Sail University offers a study program to master 3 D Art. The duration of the program is of 7 months and the cost of enrollment is 6151 EUR.
The course will cover the following topics:
- Technology in the Entertainment and Media Industries
- 3-D Foundations
- Model Creation
- Fundamentals of Art
- Project I: 3-D Arts
Top Art residency in Italy
Caravan Art Residency Program in Italy
Caravan Art Residency Program invites participants from eligible countries to take part in an art residency. The program covers accommodation, travel, and meals.
CRIPTA747 Art RESIDENCY PROGRAMME FELLOWSHIP
Cripta747 invites artists, curators, and active researchers in Italy or abroad to participate in the call for proposals dedicated to them for the Residency Program, a research residency with a scholarship to be held in Turin.
Caravan Art Residency Program in Italy
About
Caravan Art Residency Program invites participants from eligible countries to take part in an art residency. The program covers accommodation, travel, and meals.
The art residency supports
-accommodation, travel, and meals.
Number of awards
16 participants
Intake Place
– Biella, Italy,
-Alexandria, Egypt
-Marseille, France
– Athens, Greece
-Nicosia, Cyprus
-Brussels, Belgium
Deadline
Currently closed
Amount of the grant
-accommodation, travel, and meals.
Duration of the art residency
10 Oct / 30 Sep, 2022
CRIPTA747 Art RESIDENCY PROGRAMME FELLOWSHIP
About
Cripta747 invites artists, curators, and active researchers in Italy or abroad to participate in the call for proposals dedicated to them for the Residency Program, a research residency with a scholarship to be held in Turin.
The art residency supports
Italian artists, curators, and researchers, or foreign citizens currently living in Italy.
Number of awards
Not mentioned
Intake Place
Turin, Italy.
Deadline
Currently closed.
Amount of the grant
A research residency with scholarship (~€ 5.750)
Duration of the art residency
3 months
Top Art residencies in USA that you should apply for:
Light Work Artist-in-Residence Program in USA
Light Work invites 12-15 artists to participate in its residency program. In fact, artists selected for the residency program are invited to live in Syracuse for one month. Moreover, they receive a $5,000 stipend, an apartment to stay in, a private digital studio, a private darkroom.
SALOMON FOUNDATION RESIDENCY AWARD IN BROOKLYN USA
Since 2015, the Claudine and Jean-Marc Salomon Foundation for Contemporary Art have initiated a residency program in the form of a prize (Salomon Foundation Residency Award) in Brooklyn, USA, in partnership with the International Studio & Curatorial Program ( ISCP).
This program allows an artist under 35 from one of the member countries of the International Organization of La Francophonie, to benefit from a 6-months residency in New York, including the provision of a workshop at ISCP and a grant of 24,000 USD.
Grant for artist in NY offered by Eyebeam
Eyebeam is pleased to announce the launch of a grant program that supports artists producing innovative and revelatory journalistic work for major media outlets. The amount of support varies from 500 dollars to 5000 dollars.