Cholamandal Artists' Village

Cholamandal Artists' Village is India's largest self-supporting artists' commune located at Injambakkam on the East Coast Road, about 9 km south of Chennai. Established in 1966 by artist K.C.S. Paniker, it is the centre of the Madras Movement of Art. The 10-acre village houses studios, residences, galleries, a museum and open-air sculpture displays showcasing contemporary Indian art.

Visitors can explore a quiet, sandy, village-like campus with artists' studios and residences, two main art galleries and the Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art, the Museum of the Madras Movement, and an open-air display of sculptures set among trees. Interiors show paintings, sketches, terracotta and metal works by members and eminent artists. Visitors can walk between galleries, view ongoing studio work, browse the art shop and bookshop, and see the open-air theatre and craft areas.

Founded in 1966 by K.C.S. Paniker, then principal of the Government College of Arts and Crafts, Chennai, along with 38 artists including M. Reddeppa Naidu, Akkitham Narayanan and others. Created as a self-sufficient commune to allow artists to live and work together, it became the birthplace and centre of the Madras Movement of Art (1950s-1980s), which pioneered a distinct South Indian modernism blending traditional and contemporary idioms.

Recognized as the epicentre of the Madras Movement and a landmark in contemporary Indian art. It nurtured generations of prominent Indian artists and continues to function as a living art village, gallery complex and museum preserving and promoting modern and contemporary art, craft and art education in Tamil Nadu.