The 7th edition of Torrent Group, UNM Foundation’s Abhivyakti – The City Arts Project was announced with the conclusion of the 6th edition
Ahmedabad : The 6th Edition of “Abhivyakti – The City Arts Project”, Gujarat’s longest art and culture showcase and an endeavor of UNM Foundation of Mehta Family’s Torrent Group, concluded on December 8th, 2024 with an assemble of art admirers from different walks of life enjoying the art performances across genres.
The 16-day Project, which had begun on November 21st and concluded on Sunday, received an unprecedented footfall of over 3,24,325 art lovers of different age groups and from varied walks of life. Apart from the lakhs of art lovers of the city, the project was also visited by Anusandhan NGO, Sabarmati in Ahmedabad who brought along more than 20 kids from slum areas, who were inspired by seeing various art installations. Senior citizens from two different Old Age Homes from Ambli and Adalaj areas in Ahmedabad, also enjoyed performances by different artists. This visit was specially arranged under “Ujaas” one more CSR initiative of the UNM Foundation. The last year’s Edition-5 had received an overwhelming response with record footfalls of over 1.75 lakh visitors during the fortnight.
The completion set the foundation of a new journey with the announcement of the 7th edition, which will commence from November 21, 2025 and continue till December 7, 2025. With this, the nation-wide hunt for hidden talent and new ideas across genres of unique art forms has commenced. Since its first edition in 2018, this one-of-its-kind Arts Project has received more than 5936 applications, and over 1335 artists have performed on this stage entertaining more than 6 lakh art loving audience over the past 6 Editions.
Expressing immense pride in the success of the art showcase, and the conclusion of 6th Edition, Ms. Sapna Mehta, Director, UNM Foundation, said, “We are pleased to see such an overwhelming response from the public and the incredible talent of artists from all over India. This project has truly become a celebration of our rich cultural heritage and a platform for artists to showcase their fresh ideas and creativity. We look forward to continuing this tradition and making it even bigger and better in the years to come.”
The Edition-6 turned out to be grander on all counts in comparison to the previous editions. Total 140 performances were showcased by 96 artists (including 47 visual artists) in art forms including dance, music, theatre and visual art installations. Continuing the tradition of fostering originality and artistic expressions, Abhivyakti’s Edition-6 emerged as a preferred platform for artists to ideate, create, perform and get acknowledged. Enthralling performances by artists and performers from different parts of India including Punjab and Delhi in the North; Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha in the South; West Bengal, Assam, Tripura and Manipur in the East; from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa in the West kept the audience entertained and inspired.
The scale of Edition-6 was enhanced by adding one more venue at ATIRA Campus in addition to the existing venue of Gujarat University Campus in Ahmedabad. Under the theme of “Stories from the Soul” Edition-6 has performances curated by four eminent art curators in four genres i.e. K Sumant in Music, Chirag Modi in Theatre, Dhara Dave Vyas in Visual Arts and Mansi Modi in Dance. The mentors include celebrated names from the field of art – Rajat Dholakia (Music), Saumya Joshi (Theatre), Kruti Mahesh (Dance) and Khanjan Dalal (Visual Arts).
During the event, audience also had an opportunity to learn about different art forms under the guidance of professional artists who conduct workshops for Theatre by Karthik from Chennai, Dance by Sarthak Dubey from Jaipur and for Visual Arts by Kaumudi Sahasrabudhe. A curatorial walk by the visual arts’ curatorial team on the weekends gave the audience a detailed insight into the visual art installations and the intricacies of artistic expressions.
