Kolkata, Nov 27 (PTI) CIMA Art Gallery here has launched an art ‘mela’ to bring affordable artworks to the people.Explaining the concept, Co-curator Pratiti Basu Sarkar said on Saturday that the well-known gallery wants to break the belief that art is for the elite.“There is the sense that art is for elitists, and we want to break that,” she said.The festival that happens on a November weekend every year houses a variety of artworks ranging from watercolour canvases to woodwork, terracotta sculptures and folk art among others."This affordable art fair began as a way to get art into the lives of the general public,” Sarkar said.The prices of the artworks range from Rs 500 to Rs 1.5 lakh.The three-day art ‘mela’ this year would end on November 27.The artists contributing to the festival are handpicked, and some of them are lesser known, Sarkar said.She also said the festival provides the artists a platform to experiment.“Many of them say this has helped them in the evolution of their practice,” she said.Shyamal Roy, a terracotta sculptor who has been in the profession for 42 years, said he started exhibiting paintings at the first CIMA festival, which were received well by the curators and the public.Roy said he started making terracotta “sculptors primarily because other materials like wood, copper, marble are expensive”.“As a beginner, I felt handling clay was easier. So I didn’t bother with other costlier materials like wood, stone, bronze, etc.” Manish Moitra, another artist who contributed to the festival, described his artworks as “realistic”.“I take inspiration from my daily life and surroundings, which become my subject,” he said.Anwar Chitrakar, Yashpal Singh, Lalu Prasad Shaw and Jagjeet Kumar Rai are among those whose artworks showcased in the "mela".Dominique, a French tourist having dropped by the fair, said he enjoyed watercolour paintings the most.“It’s nice to see exhibits from various parts of India,” he added. PTI HA SUS BDC BDC