Actresses Sreelekha Mitra, Koneenica Banerjee and Nelanjana Bhowmick at the launch of Pantene’s new product, Hair Fall Control, at a city hotel on Wednesday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Senior artists and novices are sharing creative space at an art camp at the Oberoi Grand. The three-day workshop with 11 painters will culminate in an exhibition and auction with a cause on Friday. Art lovers can drop in to watch the artistic process in the hotel’s Tea Room.

“Usually, artists are locked up in their studios. Camps give us a chance to interact with our audience as well as fellow painters,” feels Partha Bhattacharjee, one of the participants. “There is a real give-and-take between artists,” he adds.

Organised in collaboration with Spandan Art Gallery, the proceeds from the event will be donated to Anubhav Calcutta, a society patronised by Vasundhara Raje Scindia, which plans to construct an old age home and orphanage in the city.

Priyanka Gupta, a young artist, feels the platform is “a good opportunity” to display her work.

“I don’t usually like working in such spaces. But artists don’t often get the chance to work for a social cause, and that is why I am here,” explains Sanatan Dinda. Each will create two to three canvases which will be auctioned at the cocktail dinner on April 2.

“At the last camp, all the paintings were sold,” says general manager Amitabh Rai.

Calcutta-based fashion designer Sucheta Merh has been invited to participate in the India Fashion at Lucknow from April 1 to 3. Swapan and Seema, the husband-wife team, are the other faces from town.

The show, hosted by the Indian Academy of Art and Culture, will hit Lucknow for the first time. Designers including Rina Dhaka, Anjana Bhargava, Payal Jain and Anju Modi will showcase their collections. The thread that binds them? They all work with zardosi, aadi, chikan and Benarasi borders, which owe their origin to Lucknow.

“My collection also has a very Bengali touch to it. Batik and kantha feature in my zardosi and aadi outfits,” explains Sucheta.