by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC public information manager
The Kansas City Kansas Community College Art Gallery is holding “The Art of Rangoli” in celebration of its upcoming exhibition “Experience India.”
Artist Kaushika Panchal of KP Artworks will be doing a demonstration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 22 during “The Art of Rangoli” event.
The event will be in the KCKCC Art Gallery, which is on the lower level of the Jewell Student Center on the KCKCC Main Campus, 7250 State Ave. All events and exhibitions are free and open to the public.
The “Experience India” exhibition is on display now through March 31 featuring artworks from Kalpana Lalgudi and her students from the school of piKalsso Art.
Rangoli is a popular folk art where people make colorful designs on the floor in their house. The design is created using colored rangoli powders, ground rice powder, flowers and diyas. The purpose of rangoli is beyond decoration. It represents the happiness, positivity and liveliness of a household and is intended to welcome Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and good luck.
From early petroglyphs to a flourishing contemporary art scene, India’s vibrant artistic legacy is the result of a variety of cultural influences. The diversity of art from this area, which includes anything created in the historical regions of modern-day India, Bangladesh and areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, is reflected in vivid, distinct and enchanting styles that represent many different civilizations. Because some of the world’s major religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam either began or flourished in India, much of Indian art is based on the religious, cultural and architectural subject matter.