Lokame Tharavadu: When the world of art comes to a small town

Alappuzha in Kerala hosts a major contemporary art survey exhibition featuring the works of 267 artists cutting across generations and geographies, organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, and curated by eminent artist Bose Krishnamachari

By P Sudhakaran

A sculpture by K S Radhakrishnan with the paintings of Smitha GS in the background

Over 260 galleries in a small city! Every gallery exhibiting the art works of one artist each. Warehouses and godowns transformed into professional galleries with ample wall space and rooms for video projection as well. The feeling one would get while watching the Lokame Tharavadu (The world is one family), a contemporary art survey exhibition organised by the Kochi Biennale Foundation, at Alappuzha in Kerala, and curated by eminent artist Bose Krishnamachari, with the support of the Government of Kerala, is simply awe inspiring. An unassuming place all of a sudden becoming the hub of contemporary art is something unbelievable. But that is the beauty of this mammoth show where 267 Malayali artists from different parts of the world are exhibiting nearly 3000 works ranging from painting, drawings and sculptures to photographs, videos and installations.

The core idea of this exhibition, the world is one family, is drawn from the verses of a Malayalam poem written by legendary poet Vallathol Narayana Menon, which appeals to the universal spirit of humanity, especially in these times of the pandemic. However, here it also has a secular connotation, says Bose Krishnamachari, who conceptualized the exhibition.

Bose near the works of Blodsow

This name has great relevance here, according to him. “We are passing through a time when the secular ideals are facing threat. Hence it becomes the responsibility of the artists to create secular space and assert that the entire world is one family, irrespective of caste, creed or colour,” he says, adding that the Malayali community is present all over the world. In this show also majority of the artists are from outside Kerala, including other countries. While conceiving such a show, it should transcend the geographical boundaries and linguistic barriers, according to the curator.

A show to boost morale of artists

The idea of such a show was germinated when the Foundation had to drop the 2020 edition of the biennale owing to Covid-19 pandemic. There was a need to boost the confidence of the artists in the wake of this situation, which has affected them in many ways, according to the curator, who personally visited the studios of the participating artists as part of giving final shape to the show.

“Most artists, including me, have been confined to our homes for the last many months. This inspired many of us to profoundly think about our home, surroundings and the world. These poignant thoughts led to the conception of the exhibition. It invokes the power of art to revive and resurrect the dejected human spirit,” he said in an interview.

Sculpture by Valsan Koorma Kolleri

When he travelled all over Kerala to identify the artists and their working conditions, he realized that many of them have no studio space or storage facility and they had a frugal existence. This realization also further prompted him to organise such a show that gives exposure to the artists who do not have any avenues to showcase their work. In that sense, Lokame Tharavdu invokes the power of art to revive and resurrect the dejected human spirit. Bose has conceptualized the exhibition asking certain important questions about our ideas of home, surroundings and the world. The show is also a step taken towards realising the Kochi Biennale Foundation’s vision to enrich the public discourse on contemporary art, and to create a platform that will introduce global contemporary visual art theory and practice, aesthetics and art experiences to the Indian public, he says.

“My attempt was to use this exhibition as a platform to imagine the coming together of a creative community despite the adversities, and stand together to display the transformative potentials of art,” according to the curator, who has given equal importance to all the artists irrespective of their celebrity status, market value or the medium they handle.

Unlike the biennales, here fine art has got more prominence while giving due importance to the new media art as well. Nearly one and a half lakh square feet false walls have been created to display the works by converting the warehouses to galleries.

“What I suggested the artists was that they should provide maximum number of works and we would display the best ones thus giving the feeling of a semi-solo show, so that the people would get a feel about their works,” he says.

A painting by P S Jalaja 

Female presence

Though the curator has not made any deliberate efforts to bring about any gender balance as such in this show, Lokame Tharavadu proves that the presence of women artists cutting across generations is very strong here. There are around 65 female artists in this show, and these include professional artists as well as those who took to art because of their passion. Be it the tiny digital drawings by Radha Gomathy, which she did using a mobile app, the poignant paintings by K.S. Sooraja who asserts the power of the line, or the works of Sajitha R Shankar, Jaya PS, Sreeja Pallam, Chitra EG, Rathidevi, Kabita Mukhopadhyay, Aami Atmaja, and Anuradha Nalapat, to mention a few, there is a question against the patriarchy – at times vocally, at times subtly. 

A painting by Sreeja Pallam

At the same time, there are works like the paintings of P S Jalaja that have a sociopolitical connotation. On the other hand, the paintings of Smitha GS grab your attention for its apparent beauty in portraying the vibrant landscape. But, once you go deep, it has a layer of pain deep within. At the same time, Kozhikode native Santha KV, who started painting out of passion, managing time from her smalltime occupation of rearing poultry, uses art as a medium to express her inner feelings.

Societal concerns

Though Lokame Tharavadu showcases Malayali artists, the societal concern and issues that reflect here has a global perspective. For example, the sculpture-based installation by Blodsow, aptly named ‘Article-19’, upholds the value of Indian Constitution, especially in the context of Article-19 that guarantees freedom of expression. His painting, ‘Spectrum’ made of multicoloured blouse materials reflect the struggle of the women to assert their dignity, which continues till date.

Vipin Dhanurdharan’s installation

Vipin Dhanurdharan’s installation of a railway track, along with the video documentation of the families of the migrant labourers who were run over by a train in Aurangabad while they were taking rest on the tracks walking back home following the lockdown in the wake of Covid-19, takes us back to the manmade tragedy that the humanity faced in the wake of the pandemic.

A painting by Murali Cheeroth

On the other hand, the paintings and video installations by Murali Cheeroth reflect the ecosophical concerns and the local history of his place. To understand the history of a place at the micro level and its ecoscopical dimension, we have to go beyond the myths and the hearsay, he adds. “Here in these three videos, my effort is to remap the place I belong to, and also its geo-cultural landscape, through the unsung local heroes who have the roots in the same society,” he says. Along with a big painting, he has done one hundred small works, which are miniature worlds displayed in rows columns as if in matrix, portraying the flora and fauna around us, which live in harmony in a world of manmade turbulence. “These are independents sights around without any ‘sound and fury’, which I studied closely over the time of the Covid-19 pandemic that brought our life to a grinding halt,” according to Murali. This process began as a study for the bigger paintings he did later, but it ultimately became a narrative like a rosary with 100 knots, to pray in the time of manmade disasters!

Sketches by Thaj Backer

Similarly, Thaj Backer captures the transformation of his native place, Ponnani, which is a historic town, using Ponnani ink, which is also called Arabic ink. This ink is curious one which he discovered in a local shop, and he decided to portray his own place using that.

Paintings by Azis T M

On the other hand, the humanity as a whole comes to life in the works of Azis T M, for whom his art is part of his thought process.

“I have never been particular about maintaining a style, because I realize that experiences change with time and even our memories take new shapes or incarnations. At times it can be a parable, an allegory, an ordinary moment or the freeze-frame from a vision, but I like to give it the hues of life in all its vibrancy, and not just angst,” he says. His images, which are often in acrobatic move, are the manifestation of the world around, but they come from within the artist.

Gigi Scaria near his sculpture 

At the same time, the sculptures of Gigi Scaria focus on the environmental degradation and exploitation resulted from urbanization. In one of his sculptures, ‘Stuck’, we can see a tree struggling within the confinement of a house. His video, made of the photographs of refugee camps from different parts of the world, also points to the same socio-political vision. “The past is no more than a tool to navigate the future, and has become a devastating testimony to the future itself, says Gigi.

Abdul Gafoor’s graphic narrative

New visions

The possibility graphic narrative in art is another important aspect that grabs our attention, as is seen in the works of Kavitha Balakrishnan and a few other artists. The pages of Abdul Gafoor’s graphic narratives and the cartoons and sketches of eminent cartoonist EP Unny are some of the works that add to the uniqueness of the show.

From veterans like A Ramachandran Akkitham Narayanan, NKP Muthukoya, V Viswanathan, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, Radhakrishnan K S, Surendran Nair, M J Enas, and C Douglas to younger generation artists including K K Muhamed, Babu Xavier, C F John, Zakkir Hussain, T V Santhosh, Vivek Vilasini, Gopikrishna, P K Sadanandan, Shibu Natesan, Jitish Kallat, Alex Mathew, Sumedh Rajendran, Pushkin, Reghunathan K K, George Martin, Bara Bhaskaran, Suresh Koothuparamba, Anil Dayanand, P S Josh, Shinod Akkaraparambil among others, this exhibition provides a cross-section of the who is who of Kerala art scene.

We have a lot to learn from this show, according to Bhagyanath C, whose work in this show looks at the obsession of Keralites about their home, humorously and at times sarcastically. The composition as well as theme makes it a unique work.

“In this show we can experience as to how the environment has changed in art and how seriously our artists approach art,” he says. Moreover, this has improved the market possibility of art and it has drawn the attention of many galleries,” he says.

The show has been extended till December 31, which is a welcome thing for the art lovers and artists.

A painting by Bhagyanath C