Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, looking at a painting displayed at the Amaravati Chitrakala Veedhi in Guntur on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: VIJAYA KUMAR
Union Minister of State for Rural Development and Communications, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, on Saturday called for taking art beyond galleries and walls and bringing it closer to people, describing it as a reflection of culture and a testimony to history.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day ‘Amaravati Chitrakala Veedhi’ (Amaravati Art Street) organised by the Andhra Pradesh Creative and Cultural Commission at Koritapadu in Guntur. Around 800 artists from different regions are participating in the event, showcasing paintings, sculptures, folk, traditional and contemporary art forms.
Mr. Pemmasani said that art was one of humanity’s oldest forms of communication. People expressed their thoughts through paintings and carvings even before spoken language and writing evolved. While political debates and events of ancient times may have disappeared, artistic creations from those periods continue to provide evidence of history, he said.
“Art reflects the culture of a community, preserves its heritage and represents the creativity of a region. Such programmes should provide recognition to artists and bring honour to Guntur and Andhra Pradesh,” he added.
He thanked State Tourism Minister and district in-charge Minister Kandula Durgesh and Andhra Pradesh Creative and Cultural Commission Chairperson Podapati Tejaswini for taking up the initiative. He said determination and passion could make programmes successful even with limited resources.
Last year’s event in Rajamahendravaram brought together nearly 500 artists, while the Guntur edition has close to 800 participants.
Deputy Speaker K. Raghurama Krishna Raju, MLC Alapati Rajendra Prasad, and MLAs Boorla Ramanjaneyulu, Galla Madhavi, Nazeer Ahmed and Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar attended the inaugural event.
Published – August 08, 2026 08:10 pm IST
