Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 1,020 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) in New Delhi recently hosted its 65th National Exhibition of Art. It showcased over 270 artworks from around the country, selected by a jury from 6,175 submissions.
Twenty artists were also conferred with the Lalit Kala Akademi Awards. The artists include Pooja Rajpoot, Praveen Kumar, Pritam Madhukar Deuskar, Rajendra Prasad, Ramesh Vithal Thorat, Raviram Ramakrishnan, and Sanjay Kumar.
Such exhibitions and awards help transform artistic talent into livelihoods, creative businesses, tourism, and international recognition. By connecting artists with audiences, buyers, institutions, and markets, they strengthen the creative economy while preserving a country’s cultural identity.
Exhibitions provide artists with platforms to showcase, promote and sell their work. They connect creators with the broader ecosystem of collectors, galleries, curators, cultural institutions and potential investors, thus creating opportunities for income generation and professional growth.
In the case of national exhibitions in India, opportunities are also created to showcase traditional crafts, indigenous knowledge, and contemporary artistic practices. Cultural assets thus go beyond elements of nostalgia into sources of sustainable economic value.
Art competitions in turn encourage excellence, experimentation and creative risk-taking. When conducted annually, they identify emerging talent, provide visibility to underrepresented artists, and create pathways to grants and residencies, as shown in LKA's activities and centres across India.
Art exhibitions delight and inspire art lovers while also spurring artists to develop new techniques, materials and ideas. At a broader level, this strengthens a country’s creative skills base and encourage innovation across design, fashion, architecture, digital media, and other creative industries.
Awards conferred by national institutions like LKA provide credibility and elevate the profiles of artists and creative enterprises. National awards also help establish benchmarks of excellence, celebrate cultural achievement, and build a distinctive national creative identity.
As shown in this photo essay, the diverse artworks featured help emerging artists realise what is possible with current practices. It also opens the door to explore how other media can extend creative frontiers, such as digital technologies.
Together, exhibitions, competitions and awards contribute to the creative economy of India. Regional creators can connect to national and international buyers, galleries, cultural institutions, and digital marketplaces.
Traditional art forms and indigenous knowledge can be sustained while encouraging new creative expressions. The LKA annual exhibition encourages cultural institutions and private-sector partners to invest in accessible venues, professional development, and fair artist remuneration.
Particular attention should be given to emerging artists, regional creative communities, women, youth, and indigenous practitioners. Success should be measured not only by attendance or media coverage, but also by artist earnings, tourism spending, repeat market opportunities, and international partnerships.
In sum, sustained investment and effective partnerships via platforms like LKA can ensure that India’s artistic and cultural wealth generates lasting social, cultural and economic value.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Lalit Kala Akademi.)