While residencies and mentorship remain central to Art For Art Foundation’s work, public projects extend this commitment into shared spaces and wider publics. These initiatives are grounded in the belief that artistic practice gains force when it enters conversation beyond the studio, engaging with communities, sites, and everyday contexts that shape contemporary life.
Public projects at A4A are developed as sustained engagements rather than finished displays. They offer artists opportunities to work in public spaces, social environments, and non-traditional sites, encouraging practices that respond to lived realities, material conditions, and local histories. Through these projects, artists encounter questions of access, participation, and visibility, testing how artistic processes operate within collective settings.
Taken together, these initiatives reflect A4A’s broader approach to artistic support, one that values context as much as content and recognises public engagement as an essential extension of research and practice. Public projects allow the foundation to hold space for experimentation at a different scale, where artistic work meets diverse audiences and conditions beyond the residency framework.
Selected Projects
Nature Connect Public Art Project,
Hungariun Cultural Centre,
New Delhi 2017
Art For Art Foundation (A4A), in collaboration with the Sonalika Group, presented Nature Connect in 2017 as an interactive public art project and exhibition focused on environmental concerns and ecological awareness. Conceived as a process-led initiative, the project brought together artists working across sculptural, photographic, digital, and site-responsive practices to explore the relationship between nature, development, and everyday human activity. Installed within an accessible public setting, Nature Connect emphasised temporary and interactive works rather than commodified objects. The project encouraged dialogue between artists, audiences, and local communities through installations, workshops for school children, documentation-led practices, and public conversations. By foregrounding sustainability, participation, and material sensitivity, Nature Connect reflects A4A’s commitment to using public art as a tool for awareness, education, and collective reflection on environmental responsibility.
Tracing Art in Public (TAP) —
Community Arts Project,
Govindpuri, New Delhi, 2017
Tracing Art in Public (TAP) was initiated by Art For Art Foundation (A4A) as a community-based public art project in the JJ Colony of Govindpuri, New Delhi. Conceived as a long-term engagement rather than a one-time intervention, the project explored how artistic practice can function as a tool for dialogue, observation, and relationship-building within dense urban neighbourhoods. Working with local communities, artists, and volunteers, the project foregrounded process-led activities, including workshops, informal interactions, temporary installations, games, photography, and collective making. These engagements prioritised listening, participation, and shared experience, allowing artists to respond to the area's social, spatial, and cultural specificities while building trust over time. TAP remains an open and evolving initiative. While its modes of engagement continue to be reassessed in response to practical and contextual constraints, the project stands as a significant exploration of community-oriented public art within A4A’s wider practice. The documentation from this phase reflects the foundation’s commitment to sustained enquiry, ethical pacing, and the complexities inherent in long-term public engagement.
Imagine Fest Public Projects,
New Delhi 2017
As part of its public projects programme, Art For Art Foundation (A4A) participated in Imagine Fest 2017 at Nehru Park, New Delhi, presenting a constellation of initiatives that brought contemporary artistic practice into direct engagement with public audiences. Working within an open park environment, A4A’s interventions foregrounded process, interaction, and accessibility, positioning art as a shared civic experience rather than a specialised or enclosed activity. Art Buzz functioned as a public-facing group exhibition that brought together emerging and young practising artists working across painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics. Presented in close proximity to nature, the exhibition emphasised interaction between artists and audiences, with participating artists engaging directly with visitors through live sketching, discussion, and informal exchange. The format prioritised visibility, dialogue, and the demystification of artistic practice within a non-institutional setting. The Global Nomadic Art Project (GNAP) contributed a process-driven, nature-based component to the festival. Conceived as a document-led artistic enquiry, GNAP focused on artistic responses to geography, landscape, and environment through travel, observation, and minimal intervention. At Imagine Fest, the project was represented through photographic documentation and selected installations, foregrounding research, fieldwork, and ecological sensitivity as central modes of artistic practice. YAFA, Young Arts For All, formed the youth-focused strand of A4A’s participation. Designed as a platform for school-age artists, YAFA enabled young practitioners to present and discuss their work within a large public forum. The initiative emphasised confidence-building, exposure, and early engagement with audiences, reinforcing A4A’s long-term commitment to arts education and access at formative stages of practice. Together, these initiatives articulated A4A’s approach to public engagement at scale, where exhibition, research, and learning coexist within shared spaces. Imagine Fest 2017 provided a context in which artistic practice, environmental awareness, and public participation intersected, extending A4A’s pedagogical and community-oriented values beyond the residency framework and into the public domain.
Palate International Food Village,
Goa Public Art Project 2015
A4A participated as cultural producers at the Palate International Food Village held alongside IFFI in Panjim, Goa, in November 2015. The project presented temporary, site-responsive public art installations that engaged audiences within a festival context, foregrounding interaction, material experimentation, and public dialogue. The installations were conceived as non-permanent works, allowing artists to respond freely to the site, audience, and social environment without the constraints of durability or monumentality. Positioned within a high-visibility public setting, the project encouraged spontaneous engagement and reflection, reinforcing A4A’s approach to public art as a catalyst for conversation, awareness, and shared experience rather than static display. Participating Artists: Dhiraj Pednekar | Katharina Poggendorf-Kakar
Art for Food, Palate Food Festival
New Delhi 2015
As part of its public projects programme, Art For Art Foundation (A4A) presented Art for Food at the Palate Food Festival held at Nehru Park, New Delhi, in November 2015. Conceived as a series of temporary public art installations, the project brought contemporary artistic practice into an open festival environment, encouraging direct engagement with diverse public audiences. The installations explored social, political, and ecological concerns through accessible and participatory formats. Working outside conventional exhibition spaces, the project enabled artists to respond to public space, material conditions, and everyday encounters, reinforcing A4A’s commitment to public dialogue, sustainability, and context-driven artistic enquiry. Participating Artists: Chetnaa Verma | Kunal Kalra | Pooja Bahri | Sancha Art Studio
Ten Heads Festival Public Art Project
2015
As part of its public projects programme, Art For Art Foundation (A4A) participated in the Ten Heads Festival in October 2015, presenting a set of interactive public art installations within a shared festival environment. Conceived as a collective intervention, the project foregrounded dialogue, participation, and reflection, using public space as a site for artistic enquiry and social engagement. The installations invited audiences to pause, interact, and reflect on questions related to community, authorship, self-awareness, and shared responsibility. By working outside conventional exhibition settings, the project encouraged direct exchange between artists and the public, reinforcing A4A’s commitment to accessible, process-driven public art practice rooted in conversation and lived experience. Participating Artists : Pooja Bahri | Sanjeetha M | Sancha Art Studio | Suvanwita Saha | Ravi Kumar Chunchula
Palate Food Festival Public Projects
2014–2015
Art For Art Foundation (A4A) participated in the Palate Food Festival in 2014 and 2015, presenting a series of sustainable and interactive public art installations within the festival environment at Nehru Park, New Delhi. Conceived for a large, diverse public audience, these works engaged with material reuse, food cultures, and everyday social spaces, bringing contemporary art into direct contact with thousands of festival visitors. Situated outside conventional exhibition formats, the installations prioritised participation, accessibility, and environmental awareness. The project reflects A4A’s approach to public practice, where artistic enquiry extends into shared civic spaces and dialogue emerges through direct engagement with audiences. Participating Artists: Bhavin Mistry | Pooja Bahri | Ravi Chunchula | Sancha Art Studio | Seema Kohli | Somu Desai
Batting For Art (2013)
Batting for Art is a public art initiative developed by Art For Art Foundation (A4A) in partnership with Delhi Daredevils, as part of the team’s CSR engagement. Conceived at the intersection of art and sport, the initiative brings together fifteen contemporary artists who create original works on specially designed cricket bats. The project explores shared values that shape both artistic and sporting practice, including discipline, risk, play, and creative instinct. By transforming a familiar sporting object into a site of artistic expression, Batting for Art offers an accessible entry point for wider publics and expands the contexts in which contemporary art can be encountered. Funds raised through the initiative support A4A’s residency programme and related programme work. The project reflects A4A’s approach to public engagement by building cultural collaborations that broaden access, foster dialogue, and create meaningful intersections between creative practice and civic life. Participating Artists Binoy Varghese · Chintan Upadhayay · Dileep Sharma · Farhad Husain · Jayasri Burman · Kanchan Chander · Khem Vaishnav · Neeraj Goswami · Paresh Maity · Sanjay Bhattacharya · Satish Gupta · Seema Kohli · Sidharth · Thota Vaikuntam · Yusuf Arakkal
