Indian canvases are coolly selling for over a million rupees and at auctions, the hammer is going down for as much as two crores but when art enthusiast Chanda Chaudhary Barrai decided to put a freeze on the price tag for her brainchild The Fuschia Tree, she settled for Rs 50,000. “This is a platform to bring together artists and connoisseurs. The focus will essentially be on affordable art, though there might be exceptions to the Rs 50,000 tag,” notes the 34-year-old who shuttles between Delhi and Hong Kong and introduced Fuschia to the art circuit with a soft launch in June.

While the finer details are still been finalised and Barrai is preparing for exhibitions across the country, beginning with a series of shows lined up at The Attic in Connaught Place this September, over a hundred registrations have already been received from all over the world including Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan and the US.

“The response has been amazing and we have managed a varied collection,” smiles Barrai, as she sets her eyes on a creation made by Ugandan artist Martin Otieno who uses batik for the backdrop. “This is not common,” observes Barrai, going back in time to recall how her stint in the corporate world led to the conceptualisation of The Fuschia Tree. “The options seem limited for someone who wanted to purchase works of art at a reasonable price,” she recollects, adding how last year was spent in scouting for artists and putting together a panel comprising art writer Shivani Chandra, consultant Shailin Smith and corporate sales head Jasjit Chugh.

With the website in place and registrations pouring in, a group of curators is on board to screen works submitted by the artists and scout for talent and traditional artifacts from across the country. Though the prices of the works will be kept minimal, an additional low down will be made possible through associate services, including print on demand where copies will be produced on canvas and paper and reproduction of artworks on knick knacks like bags, shirts and mugs. “For the artists this will be an additional income and collectors can count on these to make a reasonable purchase,” smiles Barrai, who will unveil creations by artist and fashion designer Nida Mahmood in September. “This will revolve around kitsch,” she says.