Born from the mind of an artist - the Art Village, Karjat (AVK), is a creative space where naturalists, artists, practitioners, performers and educators come together to learn, create and share their philosophies and methods of practice. Members of the village community, come from diverse professional fields, practicing locally and globally. They frequent the village, to engage with the space, get inspired and share their expertise through workshops, talks, residencies, performances, festivals and Educational programmes.
We are an earth built art centre.
Art has an invisible power, a power to make people think. The more time we spend with ourselves, the clearer our minds get. Any form of creation is achieved with practice and talent along with isolation and patience, which helps people know more about the unknown. If we look at World History, Art has always played a significant role in it and without art, life would be colorless. This is what caused a deep longing to have more art in life and what led artist Ganga Kadakia and her partner Kunal Kadakia to create Art Village in 2011.
The initiative has a sole purpose, to create art awareness amongst all through overnight and day programmes. We bring like-minded creative people together, whether artists or not, to help them discover, celebrate and spread their art.
ART
Art is the driving force of the project - to ideate, to create, to explore. AVK hosts art workshops ranging from performing arts like theatre to fine arts like printmaking, conducted by professional artists of the AVK community. Through dedicated programmes, the space is given out for artist collaborations and short term art residency programmes.
NATURE
With land spanning 15 acres around AVK, the project aims at maintaining and further growing a sustainable ecosystem of flora and fauna. An organic farm allows everyone to enjoy fresh produce. The wastewater system can be seen at one side of the project, while the waste management and composting pit can be seen at the other! A butterfly garden is being set up. The main attempt is to create a mutually coexistent ecosystem with nature.
ARCHITECTURE
AVK is built from the earth using vernacular construction technologies; complimented with the efficient use of recycled wood, thatch and clay tiles for the roofs. The architecture of the Art Village Karjat is the brainchild of Ar. Kiran Vaghela and was physically executed by the construction artisan team of Hunnarshala, Bhuj. The project is open to students and architects to conduct case studies and participate in earth building workshops!