Scheme of Grant-In-Aid for Conduct of Art Exhibitions: Group Shows

What is the group show art exhibition grant in Tamil Nadu?

Scheme of Grant-In-Aid for Conduct of Art Exhibitions (Group Shows) is a small, long-running grant of the Department of Art and Culture, Government of Tamil Nadu, administered through Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu. The grant pays Rs 50,000 to a group of artists so that the group can put together and run a public exhibition of its paintings, sculptures or prints.

According to the Department of Art and Culture, the scheme exists "for encouraging the talented artists of Tamil Nadu in the field of Painting, Sculpture and to enable them to conduct exhibition". The department sanctions Rs 50,000 per group to 5 groups a year, and Rs 25,000 each to 10 artists for one-man shows, from a combined annual provision of Rs 5.00 lakh.

Tamil Nadu Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu, sometimes transliterated as Oviya Nunkalai Kuzhu, was established by the Government in 1975 to promote, protect and propagate the fine arts of painting, sculpture and printmaking and to encourage the artists working in them. The Kuzhu was merged with the Department of Art and Culture in 2008, which is why applications today are handled by the Directorate of Art and Culture in Egmore, Chennai, rather than by a separate office.

The group show grant sits inside a family of Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu schemes that readers often confuse with each other:

• Kalaichemmal awards. A citation and a cash award of Rs 1,00,000 for eminent artists in traditional and contemporary art.
• State level exhibition of traditional and contemporary art to 30 senior artists above 30 years of age get Rs 15,000 each and 30 junior artists below 30 get Rs 10,000 each, a total of Rs 7.50 lakh to 60 artists.
• One-man show grant, Rs 25,000 to 10 artists a year.
• Group show grant: Rs 50,000 to 5 groups a year, the scheme covered on this page.
• Fine arts scholarships, for final-year students of the Government Colleges of Fine Arts at Chennai and Kumbakonam.

Who is eligible for the group show grant?

You can be considered if:

• You are a practising artist in painting, sculpture or printmaking and a resident of Tamil Nadu.
• You are applying as a group, not as one artist. The grant unit is the group, and only one grant of Rs 50,000 goes to a group.
• Your group has a concrete exhibition plan. A venue, a period and a body of work ready to be shown.
• Your members are registered as artists on the Department of Art and Culture's online portal, under the Individual (Fine Arts) or Group category.

You are not eligible if:

• You want the grant for a solo exhibition. A one-man show is a separate component with a separate ceiling of Rs 25,000, and you cannot apply for the group show grant alone.
• You work only in performing arts such as music, dance or drama. Those are supported by the Tamil Nadu Eyal Isai Nataka Manram and the Folk Artistes Welfare Board, not by Ovia Nunkalai Kuzhu.
• You are not a resident of Tamil Nadu. The scheme is framed for the artists of the state.
• Your group has already been sanctioned the grant and is applying again in the same year. With only 5 grants a year, the department spreads support across new groups.

The department does not publish an income ceiling, an age bar or an educational qualification requirement for this component. Selection is by a committee that looks at the quality of the work and the seriousness of the exhibition proposal.

How much is the grant and how is it paid?

The grant is a one-time lump sum for the exhibition, not a recurring allowance and not a salary. It is released to the bank account given in the application. Because the annual outlay is fixed at Rs 5.00 lakh and only five group grants are available, the scheme is competitive and a strong portfolio matters more than the length of the application.

How to apply for the group show art exhibition grant

1. Open the Department of Art and Culture website at artandculture.tn.gov.in and go to the Online Portal menu.
2. Complete Artist Registration; choose Individual (Fine Arts) for each painter, sculptor or printmaker in the group, or the Group option where the portal offers it. Registration is what links your name to the department's artist database.
3. Watch the Announcement and Online Applications pages for the call for grant-in-aid applications for art exhibitions in the current year.
4. Fill the grant-in-aid application for the group show, listing every member of the group, the proposed venue and dates, the number of works, and an estimate of what the exhibition will cost.
5. Upload the supporting papers, photographs of the works to be exhibited, identity and residence proof for each member, and the bank passbook page.
6. Submit the application and keep the reference number. You can follow it under Artist Group Application / User Status View on the same site.
7. If the online route is not open for the year, send the filled application with enclosures to the Deputy Director (Art Education and Schemes), Directorate of Art and Culture, Tamil Valarchi Valagam, Tamil Salai, Egmore, Chennai 600008, and confirm receipt on 044-28193195.

How to apply offline through a regional centre

1. Visit the Regional Art and Cultural Centre for your zone. Centres work at Kancheepuram, Thanjavur, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Coimbatore and Chennai.
2. Ask the Assistant Director for the grant-in-aid application form for conduct of art exhibitions and for the current year's notice.
3. Submit the filled form with photographs of the works, member identity proof and the bank passbook page, and take an acknowledgement.

Regional centres are also the practical place to ask which exhibitions the department has supported recently and what standard of portfolio the selection committee expects.

What documents do you need?

Why group show applications get rejected

• Applying as an individual under the group component, when the one-man show component was the right one.
• No artist registration on artandculture.tn.gov.in for one or more members, so the department cannot verify who the applicants are.
• A vague exhibition plan with no venue, no dates and no list of works.
• Weak or unclear portfolio images that the selection committee cannot judge.
• Applying after the year's five grants are exhausted. Reapplying in the next cycle is the remedy.
• Bank details that do not match the applicant's name, which stalls release even after sanction.

Key dates and cycle

The grant runs on the state financial year, April to March, and the department's own scheme note fixes the annual sanction at Rs 5.00 lakh. No statutory last date is published for the group show component; the Directorate of Art and Culture issues the call through its announcement page and through regional centres. Artists who plan a show for the following season should register on the portal early so that they can respond quickly when the notice appears.

Help and grievance route

• Directorate of Art and Culture, Tamil Valarchi Valagam, Tamil Salai, Egmore, Chennai 600008 to 044-28193195, 044-28192748.
• Deputy Director (Art Education and Schemes), the officer who handles scheme applications.
• Email; artandculture[at]tn[dot]gov[dot]in.
• Regional Art and Cultural Centres at Kancheepuram, Thanjavur, Salem, Tiruchirappalli, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Coimbatore for zone-level help.

No fee is payable to apply, and no agent can secure a sanction. The grant is decided by a departmental selection committee on the strength of the artwork and the exhibition proposal.

How to check your group show grant application status

1. Go back to artandculture.tn.gov.in and open the Online Portal menu you used to register and apply.
2. Look for Artist Group Application / User Status View. Log in with the same credentials used at the time of registration and application.
3. Enter your application reference number (the one generated when you submitted the grant-in-aid form) to pull up the current stage of your file, such as received, under committee review, sanctioned or not selected.
4. If the portal shows no update, or if you applied through a Regional Art and Cultural Centre rather than online, call the Directorate of Art and Culture on 044-28193195 or 044-28192748 and quote your reference number or the date and centre where you submitted the form.
5. You can also write to artandculture[at]tn[dot]gov[dot]in with your reference number and group details and ask for a status update; keep a copy of the acknowledgement you received at submission, since the department may ask for it.
6. Because only 5 group grants are sanctioned a year and there is no fixed result date, a "no update yet" status usually means the committee has not finished that year's selection round rather than that the application was lost; follow up after a few weeks rather than immediately after submission.
7. Once sanctioned, the Rs 50,000 is credited to the bank account given in the application; if the status shows "sanctioned" but the amount has not arrived, contact the Deputy Director (Art Education and Schemes) at the Directorate with your bank passbook details to check for a mismatch.