About
Canvas to cosmos, and everything between
Every child begins with a blank sheet of paper. Every artist begins with a canvas. Every civilisation reaches for the cosmos. Between these two lies the extraordinary journey of human creativity — and that journey is what DrishyAM is built to hold.
The philosophy
Some things cannot be preserved. They must be passed on. A gesture. A rhythm. A story. The particular pressure of a thumb against clay. A song that exists only in the memory of the person who knows how to sing it.
Knowledge travels this way — from one person to another, through practice, repetition and attention; through years spent watching, listening, trying, failing and trying again. From master to student. From Guru to Shishya. From one generation to the next.
DrishyAM is being built for these encounters: a place where artists, artisans, teachers, students and communities can meet; where traditions continue to grow, and new work can begin.
Its shape comes from five Constellations — Nṛtta, Kalā Kuśala, Chitra Vihāra, Sāhitya and Svasti · Prakṛti · Vijñāna. Their boundaries are deliberately porous: a filmmaker may document a disappearing craft, a poet may work with a dancer, an artisan may collaborate with a designer.
See. Imagine. Create. Belong.
The five Constellations
Guru–Shishya
Knowledge that passes hand to hand
In this tradition, technique is inseparable from attention, discipline and generosity. A master gives years; a student gives years back. DrishyAM builds residencies, workshops and living spaces so that this exchange can happen without hurry.
Alongside it runs an equally serious commitment to access: village children, tribal youth, artisans and first-generation learners are not an outreach programme here, they are participants.
ArtMantram Foundation
Art for everyone, everywhere — since 1999
ArtMantram was founded by artists and professionals to promote patronage and awareness of art. Today it is an inclusive, collaborative platform embracing craft, design, weaves, performing arts, pottery, poetry and literature — in the belief that art is in everyone and for everyone.
Registered in Bangalore in 2010 after earlier work in Delhi and Mumbai, the Foundation has organised more than 600 events, shows and workshops. Its work also addresses health, education, gender equality, disability inclusion and climate action, aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
DrishyAM — with land near Kanakapura, Bengaluru and earlier work at Gundlupet, at the foothills of the Nilgiris near Bandipur — is the Foundation’s most ambitious undertaking: a permanent home for all of it.
- Vision
- Making art part of everyday life, for all
- Founded
- 1999
- Mission
- To promote the arts, artists and art awareness — fuelling prosperity and wellbeing while enabling livelihoods and economic growth for artists, craftspeople and tribal communities.
Our people
- Sudhakar RaoChairman, Board of Trustees
- Chiranjiv Singh, I.A.S.Chairman, Advisory Board
- Jija HarisinghManaging Trustee
- Yumna Hari Singh JawaPresident & Founding Trustee
- Naveen SeriTreasurer & Trustee
- N. Sivasailam, I.A.S. (retd)Advisory Board
A place, not a programme
DrishyAM is being built to outlast all of us — an institution that preserves heritage, encourages innovation and keeps a conversation going between generations and disciplines.