News & Updates

Conceived with the general idea of promoting art and culture and spreading educational activities, Kochi Muziris Biennale has become the talking point and destination for all artists, Indian and international.

Whenever we talk of art and culture, education, in general and pedagogy in particular is a way of elucidating and influencing the viewers through a narrative that is far-reaching and invigorating.

Having partnered with KMB, the country’s only art festival from the inaugural edition, albeit in an individual capacity until 2016, SGMF has been elevated to the level of Platinum Patron. The current edition of the KMB is under way at Fort Kochi and SGMF has strengthened its association and brand value by embarking on several measures.

KMB is widely acclaimed and has become a global talking point given that the country is and has been home to artists of all genres. SGMF, which firmly believes in supporting young talent, is one of the Education Partners for the Student Biennale which runs concurrently with the main theme.

Rebel Sultans by Manu S Pillai was formally launched in Delhi yesterday by Shashi Tharoor. Just three months since it’s release, the book is already in its 3rd print, making a total of 10,000 copies already.

The event was a runaway success and the hall was packed to the rafters, so to say, with the enthusiastic crowd jostling for every inch of space. Some even made it cool by sitting on the steps and the aisles!

Maini Divas was celebrated with the usual pomp and splendour to celebrate Maini Group Founder Dr. S.K. Maini’s birthday. As has been the norm for the last 25 years, it was a day to rejoice, reminisce and be regaled as the event proved to be a runaway hit.

The Sandeep and Gitanjali Maini Foundation conducted an art competition for the children of the Maini Group employees to spot budding talents. There were plenty of takers as the young ones took the challenge to showcase their skills and let their imagination soar.

The theme for the competition was Environment Awareness and the winners went home with a goody bag and a smile on their faces.

Author Manu S. Pillai released his second book, Rebel Sultans, on 5th July 2018. The book has been published by Juggernaut and is largely supported by the Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini Foundation.

Rebel Sultans is the second book of Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar winner Manu S Pillai. The book has already received praise from William Dalrymple, Muzaffar Alam, and others, and The Hindu carried a conversation between Dalrymple and Manu recently. It was released by former foreign secretary Ms Nirupama Rao, and the author discussed the book with The Hindu's own Vaishna Roy, editor of the Sunday Magazine.

The discussion revolved around the Sultanates of the Deccan, the Vijayanagar Empire, and various other issues.

This is the first time the Foundation has supported a literary work. Rebel Sultans, which released world-wide in June 2018, marked record sales when its first print line of 5000 copies sold in under a month. The book has already gone into second print and promises to be one of the fastest selling ones on the shelves.

A short essay based on the book published can be found on: Scroll.in also find an excerpt from a chapter published in FirstPost.

The philosophy of the Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini Foundation (SGMF) has always been to promote art and culture, one of the most overlooked, but significant sectors in social development. In keeping with this ideology the release of ‘Hidden Truth’ Raja Ravi Varma: The Inside Story, a project undertaken by The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, was supported wholeheartedly by SGMF.

Rukmini Varma, chairperson of The Raja Ravi Varma Heritage Foundation, who is also the author of this book, is an acclaimed artist in her own right, while also being the sole custodian of Ravi Varma’s artist legacy. Being the legendary artist’s great great granddaughter, she was privy to a lot of facts and stories narrated to her by her grandmother Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the last Maharani of Travancore, and other elders of the family.

Rukmini Varma has chronicled facts about Ravi Varma’s inner psyche, offering a glimpse into the artist’s mind - how he thought, his inspiration and several other pertinent facts that offer a much deeper insight into his life and work. Much of what she has penned was jotted down by Ravi Varma himself in pages of a book that the author happened to chance upon.

‘Hidden Truth’ Raja Ravi Varma: The Inside Story was officially launched on 29th April 2018, the 170th birth anniversary of the artist. The audience comprised of art lovers who had deep appreciation for Ravi Varma’s work and were eager to learn more about him through Rukmini Varma’s book.

Hasta Shilpa or hand-carved art is an apt name as the founder, single-handedly, has come up with this Hasta Shilpa Heritage village in Manipal. Literally, it is the hands of Vijayanath Shenoy that has shaped this mecca of heritage in a single space. He took it upon himself as a personal crusade to reinstate the rich heritage of the state.

It goes unsaid that architecture is an integral part of a country’s history and prominence lie in its heritage. In simple terms, it speaks of the past glory through the heritage. It has painstakingly assembled rich culture, be it cuisine, customs, arts and of course, architecture.

Founders’ Sandeep & Gitanjali Maini visited Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village, Manipal. This is ongoing progression for promoting Art and Culture, while sustaining the historical conservation of Architecture.

SGMF, in its own humble way, helps keep the rich heritage alive. SGMF has provided Eco-friendly transportation buggies for the use of visitors. SGMF also provides financial assistance to help upkeep the place.

The foundation is constantly making an effort to propagate and spread awareness of the Hasta Shilpa Heritage Village in several forums.

MSKK is actively engaged in supporting and protecting the Asian elephant, an endangered species whose numbers have dropped by a whopping 90% in the last 100 years. The NGO Elephant Family supports over 160 field projects across the world and they launched a public art event — Elephant Parade — in Mumbai in February 2018. The event was aimed to generate funds to secure elephant corridors across India. It witnessed 101 sculptures of richly painted elephants from leading designers which were auctioned to raise funds. MSKK bid for the artefact Elephant Rukmini in the paddled auction. A splendid creation with acrylic paints, colour stones and varnish by Vinita Chaitanya, Elephant Rukmini is a stunning royal blue, adorned with beautiful temple jewellery.

Shravanabelagola is one of the most prominent Jain pilgrimage centres located some 145 kms from Bengaluru. The small town houses the world’s tallest, 57-foot-high monolithic statue of Lord Bahubali.

The highlight of the town is the Mahamastakabhisheka that happens every 12 years. It’s a ten-day long festival that has put the town on the world map and this year’s event held between February 17-26 is reported to have attracted a global audience of around staggering 4 million.

The unique feature of this year’s Mahamastakabhisheka was an art festival on the sidelines of the grand event. The Sandeep and Gitanjali Maini Foundation (SGMF), sponsored a cause dear to it: art.

SGMF has been fostering promotion of art and culture in multiple platforms. True to our philosophy this grand event juxtaposes heritage and art seamlessly and endorses the spirit of Indian culture.

Family & Staff Children Celebrate Sankaranthi 2018 together.

Supporting an Indian Taekwondo Bronze medalist who has been invited to Mongolia for Asian Championships. His father is a painter.