JSW Foundation’s Hampi Art Labs is set to open for the public on February 5. Located near the Unesco World Heritage Site, Hampi in Karnataka, the nine-acre centre features exhibition spaces, studios, apartments for residencies, gardens, and a cafe.
JSW Foundation is the social development arm of the JSW Group.
The Hampi Art Labs, founded by Sangita Jindal and her daughter Tarini Jindal Handa, is envisioned as an interdisciplinary institution inspired by the ancient temple city, where art, architecture, and literature flourished during the 14t-16th centuries.
Sangita Jindal, Founder of Hampi Art Labs, says, “Hampi Art Labs will be a major contribution to arts infrastructure and production facilities in the country and a cultural destination for both local and international visitors. The project is also inspired by my mother, Urmila Kanoria, who founded one of the first residency programmes in India at the Kanoria Centre for Arts in Ahmedabad in 1984.”
Designed by Mumbai-based architect and Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of CEPT University in Ahmedabad, Sameep Padora and his studio sP+a, the centre’s design pays tribute to its natural surroundings through its organic forms and use of locally sourced soil, stone and steel, among other materials.
Handa, Creative Director of Hampi Art Labs, says, “Hampi Art Labs is an inclusive artist-first centre that encourages a cross-disciplinary approach to art-making and driving engagement with the region’s heritage and artisanal legacy alongside India’s contemporary art scene.”