The pandemic erected virtual walls around people, locking them up in isolation, gloom and despair. If there was/is a goal, that was/is to survive!
And the ‘Game of Survival’ took artist Mona Mohan, from Thripunithura in Ernakulam, to painstakingly make hand-stitched portraits of people who have survived the odds, on cora cloth. Among the faces that she stitched up were those of her husband Ratheesh Thampan, also a struggling artist, who took to driving an autorickshaw to pull through the difficult times; of noted climate activist Greta Thunberg; and the Masaka children in Africa.
Ms. Mohan’s work and that of Mr. Thampan — titled ‘Emancipation of Mind’, large acrylic abstracts — are among those of 267 Malayali artists part of the art show, ‘Lokame Tharavadu’ (The World Is One Family) readied across five venues in Alappuzha awaiting reopening in compliance with the pandemic protocol. There is a venue in Ernakulam too — the Dubar Hall Art Gallery, where works by senior artists will be on display.
Bose Krishnamachari, curator of the show and president of the Kochi Biennale Foundation that is organising the show as a means to bring together Malayali artists from around the world, has written to the Chief Secretary seeking permission to resume the show that was forced to hibernate 10 days after opening because of the second wave of COVID-19.
“We are happy that the situation is gradually improving and various sectors are waking up again. We have submitted a detailed plan, recommending the number of people allowable at a time in the 13 buildings hosting the show. Our desire is to keep the show open in compliance with the COVID-19 protocol till September 30 so that it is taken to art enthusiasts and art-loving public. It can be a great boost for a heritage city like Alappuzha,” says Mr. Krishnamachari.
The State government is the lead sponsor of the show, but there are supporters like Betty Karan, who made available some of the spectacular buildings, ramshackle yesteryear warehouses along Alappuzha’s sinewy waterways, for the conduct of the exhibition.
The works bring in a great deal of variety, in terms of style, medium, material and political position, but the backstories of some of the artists are equally fascinating. Santha C., a 64-year-old artist from Kozhikode, for instance, has exhibited intricate, colourful abstract works. A Class 8 dropout, she raises chicken and ducks for a living and has been active in the democratic women’s association. “I used to draw from a very young age, but a bout of jaundice when I was 19 made me ailing. Art training at the S.K. Pottekkatt Cultural Centre in the early 2000s gave me the confidence to try different material and colours,” she says.
Thaj Backer, an artist from Malappuram, has employed the esoteric Ponnani ink, also called Arabic ink, made from the burnt nut of the Tamanu tree with tree gum as binder. He is showcasing a series of images capturing life and its periodic transformation in his native town.
Blodsow, an artist from Alappuzha, has drawn inspiration from Elsworth Kelly’s ‘Spectrum’ and re-imagines it in the backdrop of the lower caste women’s struggle for dignity (the struggle for the right to cover their chests) and equal labour rights. He has used multicoloured blouse material procured from a local shop to put together the work. Alongside is a sculpture-based installation on the ‘Constitution of India’, specifically on Article 19, which guarantees different freedoms, including the freedom of expression and speech. It is a multi-layered work and the fact that the expression ‘Constitution of India’ too has 19 letters makes it interesting.
Video installations, conceptual and thematic photo essays, sculptures, paintings, site-specific works and mixed media art are all part of the show.
There are highly personal works too, like Jitish Kallat’s ‘Epilogue’ in which he recreates the lifetime of his late father using the waxing and waning images of the daily bread (roti) that resembles the moon. Some 22,000 moons are thus arranged month-wise, capturing his life period.
Unlike the Biennale, works exhibited at the show are up for sale and patrons have already bought some of the works seeing them on Instagram and other social media platforms. “It’s good for many Kerala artists to make themselves visible. I’m sure there are many more. It was in September last year, after the first wave of the pandemic, that we thought of holding such a show to fill in the vacuum, to support the artists and promote art exhibitions,” says Mr. Krishnamachari.
