Khula Aasmaan (खुला आसमान) is a new era in Children's Art

Khula Aasmaan by Indiaart will redefine children's art, promote child art, child artists and organise children art exhibitions and art workshops. Children's Art is a relatively new section of Indiaart.com. Although a new section, it is emerging as the hub of new ideas and young energy. The first major exhibition of Children's Art that Indiaart presented in 2014 received encouraging reviews and appreciation by all sections of the society.

In 2015, Indiaart announced a platform dedicated to Children's Art which has been aptly titled "Khula Aasmaan" (meaning Open Skies). Through Khula Aasmaan, Indiaart will present portfolios of child artists, conduct art contests, exhibitions and other such initiatives.

The first art contest for children between the age group 5 to 15 closed on 30th November 2015. Participating children submitted their artworks under five themes. There was no restriction on the medium for creating the artworks. The quality of artworks shows that if children are encouraged to do their own thinking, they can create wonderful work. "Khula Aasmaan'' will always work with children to bring out their originality and encourage freedom of expression without interfering with their creative process. Select artworks from among those received are being put up in this exhibition at Mumbai. This exhibition and all the related content will be available on Indiaart.com.

The team at Indiaart and its associates have worked very hard for the past few months in organising "Khula Aasmaan''. I would like to acknowledge the efforts put in by Aarohi, Minakshi, Sunil and Sujeet in each stage of "Khula Aasmaan''. I would like to thank several art teachers, friends, well wishers and service providers of Indiaart who have made suggestions and given feedback at different stages of Khula Aasmaan. Notable among them are Deepak Dubal, Chandrashekhar Naik, Debjani Datta, Yogendra Kunte, Mandar Pandit and Anil Joshi. A special mention is due to Chitra Vaidya, who has made a significant contribution not only to the conceptualisation and execution of Khula Aasmaan this year but has been involved with Children's Art initiatives by Indiaart and Art India Foundation for the past several years. Her long years of experience of working with children has richly contributed to the children's art initiatives of Indiaart and Art India Foundation.

We are fortunate to have a jury team who are individually accomplished and talented individuals and bring to the table much needed diversity and openness of thought, a tenet central to the idea of Khula Aasmaan. I would also like to thank all the sponsors and advertisers who have supported the idea of Khula Aasmaan.
Finally, a big thank you to all the young friends who have created wonderful paintings and sent them to Indiaart. Their parents and families have played an important role in making Khula Aasmaan a platform of young talent, creative energy and originality of expression. I am sure that the parents and families of these children will continue to encourage these talented children to express themselves freely without any interference.

Let us celebrate this edition of Khula Aasmaan.

Milind Sathe
Director, Indiaart
Trustee, Art India Foundation
January 2016