Guitars + Art = A World of Good

Gibson GuitART For Good is a three-fold project, which consists of an auction (GuitART Auction), a contest that's open to everyone (Virtual GuitART), and 10-foot tall installations at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (GuitART Installations) to bring awareness to charities like MARD and Art for Akanksha.

The six artists invited by Gibson Guitar have been handpicked by the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival committee, and feature some of India’s most revered art talent – mixed-media artist Brinda Miller, sculptor Arzan Khambatta, multi-disciplinary artists Jaideep Mehrotra and Sunil Padwal from Mumbai and Delhi-based prolific painter Paresh Maity (who has recently been awarded the Padma Shri) and mixed-media artist Seema Kohli.

These one-of-a-kind, hand-painted guitars are then available to purchase by discerning buyers at the silent auction, both on ground at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival where they will be displayed and open for public viewing from February 1-9, and online during the same period. Proceeds from the silent auction will go to the Kala Ghoda Association; an association formed in 1998 and has since worked towards conservation of and attempts to bring attention to Kala Ghoda, an area that has long been considered the epicenter of art and architectural heritage of Mumbai. World over, Gibson is a strong supporter of Arts and Music, and their support here is in line with their global initiatives to do so.

The Gibson GuitART Installations aims to raise awareness on a number of issues, and comprise five 10-foot tall installations made in the likeness of the iconic Gibson and Epiphone Les Paul Guitar, which will be set up at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. These installations will be painted live on-site for the first three days of the festival by members and volunteer artists of five charities and organisations. These are the Art for Akanksha Foundation that work with children from low-income families, Farhan Akhtar’s social campaign MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination), wildlife conservation trust PROWL, MTV’s youth-oriented initiative MTV ACT and Breast Cancer Support Program, PASSAGES.

The Virtual GuitART contest is an attempt by Gibson Guitar to involve their community of fans and a wider world of artists in this initiative and give them a chance to win an Epiphone Les Paul Guitar. Participants will write in to Gibson, and then receive an image of an Epiphone Les Paul. This image will serve as the participants’ canvas to design as they please. Celebrated musician and Gibson artist Randolph Correia, will choose the winning artwork. Aside from being a guitarist with two of India’s foremost indie bands, Pentagram and Shaa’ir + Func, Randolph also has a Fine Arts degree from Sir J.J. School of Art, and is a keen visual artist.

The contest is now live. For more information and to participate, please check gibsonguitart.in/contest