Art lovers, rejoice. Lalit Kala Akademi will organise a week-long national art camp in association with Progressive Art Gallery of New Delhi next week in the state capital.

“The camp will be held at the campus of Yugantar Bharti, an NGO, at Sidroul near Namkum, from August 27 to September 2,” Akademi secretary R.K. Vedala informed this reporter over the phone.

Twenty contemporary artists from across the country and as many folk/tribal artists from the state will attend the event, he said.

Angshul Sharan of Yugantar Bharti said they had invited stalwarts such as Jogen Choudhury, Himmat Shah and Brinda Miller to the event, which they agreed to attend.

Choudhury and Shah are noted artists and Miller also happens to be the director of the acclaimed Kala Ghoda Art Festival of Mumbai.

“Seven of the 20 contemporary artists will be from Jharkhand while the rest will be from the states such as Odisha, Assam, Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra,” director of the Progressive Art Gallery R. N. Singh said from New Delhi.

“The artists will be at the camp for the entire duration. Part-time participation is not allowed,” Vedala added.

The Akademi will pay an honorarium of Rs 25,000 to each of the contemporary artists and Rs 15,000 to each of the folk/ tribal artists who will participate in the camp, besides their travel expenses.

Progressive Art Gallery, on the other hand, will be responsible for the venue, board and lodging of the participating artists and Akademi officials, as well as local tours.

During the camp, each artist will have to make two artworks, measuring 4 feet by 3 feet, that will be the property of both the organisers with 50-50 sharing on mutually agreed terms.

The art camp venue being far off from the city, commute might be a problem for people, especially students who might be interested in seeing contemporary art. “We couldn’t get a better venue within the city where 40-odd artists can work peacefully without distractions,” Vedala said.

Singh said for this, they planned to hold an exhibition of the finished artwork at Audrey House so that more people could have a look after the camp was over.