HYD.ART 2025 to Showcase Rare Husain, Raza Works in Hyderabad

Curator and show director Annapurna Madipadiga said the city has been waiting for an event of this scale for many years. He explained how Keerthanam will feature top Telugu artists and how the program will include documentaries on lost art forms, workshops, panel discussions, an interactive session and a book release of 150 Gandhi drawings by Shankar Pamarthy on the second day. “This landmark initiative highlights our talented artists while giving them national and international visibility,” he said, adding that 35 Hyderabad-based artists will feature alongside well-known names and emerging talents.

Venkat Naveen Gadde, founder and managing director of Navanaami, said the group wanted to be a part of HYD.ART 2025 because art and culture are as important to the identity of the city as the buildings. Describing the event, which will open at EON Hyderabad from December 19 to 21, as a cultural commitment, he said, “Great cities are shaped not only by infrastructure but also by imagination.”

Senior artists A Rajeswara Rao and Padma Reddy spoke about how students and young creatives continue their practice while working other jobs and said this festival could bring them some long-overdue recognition. Rajeswara Rao described HYD.ART 2025 as an opportunity for both established and new artists. Padma Reddy said more colleges and training centers lead to more promising studies in the city. “Art is born out of passion, but without promotion and exposure neither art nor artists can thrive,” he said, adding that Mumbai and Delhi have been hosting major art festivals for years and Hyderabad deserves the same kind of attention.

Organizers have listed all the events planned at EON Hyderabad. Rare works of Hussain and Raza will be exhibited at the Masters of India gallery. Keerthanam will honor veteran Telugu artistes. The festival will feature 30 contemporary artists from Hyderabad and 30 emerging artists from different parts of India. A three-generation curation of Mithila will show how the form has grown over time. The three-day sessions will include a talk by art historian Sandeep Dahisarkar on MV Dhurandhar, a discussion on acquisition of masterworks, a session on crafts and design practices by A. Shree Tej, a Daivatvam panel featuring Avinash Karn, Kaushik Kumar Jha and Pratik Prabhakar, and workshops on Mithila painting, gouache cityscapes, Chandrapal’s fabric and mixed media techniques, and woodcut printing.