Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF) the CSR arm of Hyundai Motor India Limited has announced the 50 grantees of its “Art for Hope – Season 5” program. This year, the foundation is supporting creativity that brings about social change with a total grant of INR 60 lakh for the artists across the country.
- 40 individual artists received INR 1 lakh each.
- 10 institutional projects received INR 2 lakh each.
Applications poured in from 30 regions ranging from states and union territories. After careful selection, the final 50 projects represent 22 different regions, a testament to the incredible diversity of India.
The program focuses on art that brings communities together and gives a voice to underrepresented communities. This includes visual arts, performing arts, folk, crafts, and digital media, as well as projects that combine different art forms. The initiative seeks to foster work that generates conversations, preserves heritage and inspires change.
Key Highlights:
- Projects from rural areas, tribal area and urban cities were included.
- Grantees are selected on the basis of creativity, originality and social impact.
- The jury comprised experts like Pandit Sajan Mishra (Padma Bhushan, Hindustani classical vocalist), Mr. Aaquib Wani (experiential designer), Ms. Garima Avtar (content creator), Mr. Nikhil Chawla (journalist), and Mr. Aditya Arya (photography curator).
- Artists will be accompanied with mentorship, upskills workshops and regional exhibition opportunities.
List of individual grant winners – grant amount INR 1,00,000:
| S. No. | Name | City | State | Title |
| 1 | Abishi Sarkar | Paschim Bardhaman | West Bengal | Remembering Hat Pakha |
| 2 | Bholla Manas | Hyderabad | Telangana | Guardians of the Flyways: A Terracotta Archive |
| 3 | Dr Asha Kumari | Nuh | Haryana | Reviving Bitoda Art ‚ A Rural Art Form of Haryana |
| 4 | Prabha Singh | Ghaziabad | Uttar Pradesh | Batik Painting |
| 5 | Prabhat Jyoti Gowala | Golaghat | Assam | The Me You See |
| 6 | Vankar Chetan Hirji | Ahmedabad | Gujarat | Weaving Futures: Sustaining Bhujodi Craft Through Innovation & Heritage |
| 7 | Ajay Kumar Garg* | Jaipur | Rajasthan | Preserving Heritage and Empowering the Deaf through Miniature Art |
| 8 | Akash Srivastava | Delhi | Delhi | What Remains After the Noise |
| 9 | Anupama Dey | Hooghly | West Bengal | Performing Disappearance: Archiving Indian Circus Culture through Craft |
| 10 | Ashwin Babu | Raigad | Maharashtra | Education Without Access |
| 11 | Biplab Sarkar | Jalpaiguri | West Bengal | Street Markets in the Digital Age |
| 12 | D Anthoni Guruz | Puducherry | Puducherry | Moving Margins, Uncovering Utopias |
| 13 | Deepak Kumar Behera | Baleshwar | Odisha | Roots & Reflections: Sculpting the Past into the Present |
| 14 | G Rahul | Delhi | Delhi | Bandwalla – Left Behind: Fading Rhythms in a Changing City |
| 15 | Manoj Kumar Pannala | Warangal | Telangana | Under the Same Sun |
| 16 | Milan Ashvinbhai Lunagariya | Vadodara | Gujarat | Roots of the Land |
| 17 | Nayanjyoti Barman | Bengaluru | Karnataka | A Nest Once Here |
| 18 | Pratham Kaushik | Birbhum | West Bengal | Terrains of Memory |
| 19 | Ritika Anand | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | Hands of Imagination |
| 20 | Satish Moladiya | Vadodara | Gujarat | Sarovar |
| 21 | Subhash Deka | Barpeta | Assam | Echoes Through the Golden Door: A Sound in a Space to Tribute my Ancestors |
| 22 | Surajit Mudi | Birbhum | West Bengal | Image as Encounter |
| 23 | Umesh Kumar | Delhi | Delhi | Chehek (A Tale of Disappearing Sparrows) |
| 24 | Yash H Desai | Vadodara | Gujarat | An Unknown Land (ongoing 2019) |
| 25 | Akanksha Kamble* | Thane | Maharashtra | Empathy Map: d/D |
| 26 | Aleena Khan | Bhopal | Madhya Pradesh | Chaand (Shades of Life) |
| 27 | Amit Nadig | Bengaluru | Karnataka | The Deutsch Bharatiya Big Band |
| 28 | Ramesh Chander | Varanasi | Uttar Pradesh | Water Pollution |
| 29 | Sonu Gupta* | Rohtas | Bihar | Colors of Courage |
| 30 | Nilisha Phad | Mumbai | Maharashtra | Evolving Identities of Urban India Visual Narratives of Memory, Emotion and Change |
| 31 | Ravice Rashid | Srinagar | Jammu & Kashmir | Recreating Shikargah Pather with Young Bhands of Kashmir |
| 32 | Darshan Manjare | Kolhapur | Maharashtra | Colour of the Earth |
| 33 | Hiralkumar Arunbhai Chaudhuri | Vadodara | Gujarat | Threads of Transition |
| 34 | Ninkkhan Keishing | Manipur | Manipur | Pau-rou (Watonna Wanglaga Kwakna Phamteke) |
| 35 | Kavindra Bam | Dharamshala | Himachal Pradesh | Future Forms – Blending Tradition with Tomorrow |
| 36 | Nawas Ali | Chikmanglur | Karnataka | Kolkali and Kalari: Resilience Through Rhythms |
| 37 | Abhay Pratap Singh | Raigarh | Chhattisgarh | Mic is a Speaker in Reverse |
| 38 | Nyamem Jini | West Siang | Arunachal Pradesh | Tapestry of Existence ll |
| 39 | Sarath Kumar S | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | Roots Beneath Concrete |
| 40 | Harish Lal Arya | Champawat | Uttarakhand | Childhood in Transition: A Dialogue Between Playgrounds and Screens |
List of institutional grant winners – grant amount INR 2,00,000:
| 41 | Rasa India | Chennai | Tamil Nadu | Ekam – One Essence, Many Expressions |
| 42 | SHEDO: Social Health & Education Development Organisation | Harda | Madhya Pradesh | Music Instrument Library: A Space for Musical Harmony, Learning, and Access |
| 43 | Cloket Fashion Technologies Pvt Ltd (Ashadeep Baruah) | Kamrup Metro | Assam | The Upcycling Project |
| 44 | The Glassmakers Club | Delhi | Delhi | Transcendence: From Windshield to Wonder |
| 45 | Jagori Foundation Charitable Trust (Sayali Birmole*) | Thane | Maharashtra | Eco-Friendly Shadu Clay & Mask-Making Workshop for Children with Disabilities in Thane District |
| 46 | Kaivalya Plays (Gaurav Singh) | Delhi | Delhi | AI for Storytelling: Empowering Young Artists through Techno-Pragmatic Practices |
| 47 | Akaar Welfare Society (Maitraiyee Kuhu) | Patna | Bihar | Bagheli Raga |
| 48 | Project Vyom (Vipul) | Delhi | Delhi | Theatre Without Walls |
| 49 | Dastakar | Delhi | Delhi | From Village Walls to Urban Interiors – Madhubani Reimagined |
| 50 | Global Music Institute | Gautam Buddha Nagar | Uttar Pradesh | It’s Time to Talk: Mental Health in the Indian Independent Music Industry |
Mr Puneet Anand, AVP & Vertical Head – Corporate Affairs, Corporate Communication & Social, HMIL, said:
“Art for Hope – Season 5 is the celebration of India’s rich creative spectrum. From tribal storytellers to urban innovators to digital creators, we’re supporting projects that preserve culture, share untold stories and inspire social progress. This initiative is where creativity and purpose meet.
The program will culminate in a great public show in New Delhi sometime around February 2026. This event will bring together artists, communities and audiences to celebrate creativity, dialogue and social impact.
Hyundai is not simply funding art, they are in the process of creating a platform for voices that matter. Art becomes more than a form of expression – it becomes a tool to inspire empathy, inclusion and positive change.
This edition of “Art for Hope” shows how corporations can contribute to building talent and making art accessible, meaningful and relevant to society.