SITE
Baroda, Gujarat – 1999:
SITE Art Space is a one-stop destination for sculpture and architecture solutions.
It is located in the heart of Vadodara’s industrial area. But once you walk inside the space, the lush green grass and the thick foliage of trees at the SITE helps you ignore the industrial sounds.
The art space was established in the year of 1999 by two brothers, Manish and Piyush Maheshwari, as Rachaita Creative Solutions. Soon, they introduced the SITE art space, under which there is a display gallery, a gift show, a cafe, and India’s first residency dedicated to sculpting. The unique aspect of the residency is that it is a one-stop-shop for all the tools and infrastructure to help an artist to create kinetic and monumental sculptures. With the help and support of Manish’s technical expertise and his skilled team, the artists have created some spectacular sculptures in the past. For instance, all the fiber-glass elephants that were part of the Elephant Parade in 2017 were made at SITE art space. The project was funded by the British royal family, and the donation was made to conserve the elephant population in India. In the past they have also hosted international artists like the German artists Ellinor Euler and Salmagundi an artist from Australia.
The gallery space, which is unique in its makeshift multipurpose walls, was designed by Samira Rathod in 2013. The gallery space is regularly used to display the collection and to host art shows. Even if the residency is not an active aspect of SITE art space in the present day, the fascinating aspect of the space is, it still retains the essence of the creative interaction that took place.
Text Courtesy : Space118
Image Courtesy : SITE