T.A.J RESIDENCY & SKE PROJECTS
Bangalore, Karnataka- 2013:
TAJ Residency & SKE Projects was the brainchild of artist Tara Kelton who, in 2013, had just moved back to Bangalore after many years of stay in New York. Shortly after she initiated the project, Sunitha Kumar Emmart of GALLERYSKE became her partner, helping with support, programming and catalysing connections with the larger art community. In contrast to other Indian metropolises, Tara felt the city did not have as many cultural spaces and had a predominantly IT driven life. TAJ grew out of a desire to fill this crucial gap and create a space for community engagement. Contributing to the cultural life of the city, promoting inter-disciplinary engagement and creating a bridge between the worlds of art and technology were some of the guiding ideologies of this space. In keeping with this, TAJ was a residency for not only artists but also practitioners from different disciplines who could use the opportunity to ideate and/or create projects. The uniqueness of this Residency was that residents, who were a mixture of local, national and international practitioners, were free to explore rather than work under the pressure of producing a tangible output. All they were asked to do was a workshop or lecture and thereby contribute to the city and its communities. The Residency came to a close in 2017 – some of the reasons for this were funding and time constraints and the pressures for Tara of running the residency alongside developing her own artistic career. However, in the years that it existed, TAJ Residency & SKE Projects was a space for vibrant conversation, inter-disciplinary interaction and an opportunity to engage deeply with the many layers of the city.
Text Courtesy : Space118
Image Courtesy : T.A.J Residency & SKE Projects