Sonia Gandhi among thousands who visited art summit

Monday January 24, 2011 06:54:09 PM, IANS

New Delhi: The India Art Summit which attracted over a lakh visitors over three days in the capital was also visited by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, known to be a keen art lover.

A visitor who was at the summit Sunday afternoon said: "The summit was well managed. The security personnel were there but there was hardly any hullabaloo created because of Sonia Gandhi's presence. She looked around the exhibits as did the rest of us without creating any fuss."

However, not everyone had a pleasant experience.

Because of the UPA chairperson's visit, the sale of tickets was stopped earlier than the scheduled time.

Ashmita Dey, another visitor, said: "The website of the summit had said that the sale of tickets will be on until 4 p.m. Sunday and entry will be allowed until 5 p.m. However, when I reached Pragati Maidan on Sunday it was a different scene."

"After standing in the serpentine queue for tickets for 20 minutes, there was suddenly an announcement at 3.40 p.m. that no more tickets will be sold and that those without passes or tickets should return. There was a huge crowd outside and we pleaded to be let in, but were turned away," she added.

Barring Sunday afternoon's experience for some, the art summit was a big hit as it saw thousands of visitors from a cross section of the society.

The summit, which began Friday, had also grown in size - from 54 galleries in the last edition to 84 galleries from 20 countries participating this time. The number of foreign galleries went up from 17 in the last edition to 34 this time.

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