Art of the global village::
The Web takes the rural artist to a worldwide market
Bijoy A K | September01, 200314:59 IST

Delhi-based painter Vijendra S Vij is originally from a small town in Fatehpur UP. He says, "Artists from rural areas face a lot of problems in getting a proper platform to display their works. But with the Internet this has become very easy."

"Rural artists hardly get a chance to visit an art gallery to see different works. Now virtual galleries on the Web help them to see different works from different artists at the click of a mouse.

"Because of their online presence, my paintings are being viewed and accepted by people across the globe. Foreign contacts have been developed and many of my works were sold for a good price. I get appreciation through email for my work, something that was beyond my imagination," gushes Vij.

Vij was lucky enough to build a base in Delhi and learn the tricks of the Web. But experiencing the Web independently is very difficult for those rural artists who are even denied the basic infrastructure of life.

"Rural India still suffers from the lack of a strong technological support. Efforts should be made to develop the countryside," says Vij.

Crafts Bridge's Shibani seems to be working at this point of failure. "We have been trying our best to educate rural artists about how the Internet works. But in our case, there is no direct link between artists and the Web."

Eoyang too feels that dealing with the Internet can be intimidating for people who are not used to it.

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