When Bharat Bhavan approached sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman to do an installation as part of the Loka Kerala Sabha, a gathering of expatriate Keralites, his first act was to recollect the memories of his own stints away from his homeland. He went back to his younger days in England where he spent three years after winning a scholarship, to the trips and extended stays that he has had in countries across the globe, and to the conversations he had with people from Kerala.
“From my own experience and listening to the experience of others living abroad, I have quite a bit of knowledge of what life away from the native place means, its advantages and its disadvantages. I am familiar with the issues they generally face, most importantly, the yearning for the native,” says the sculptor.
He put together all those experiences and memory into the installation titled ‘Early migration’ placed in front of the Legislative Assembly. The installation is structured like a house with three doors, from which migratory birds are flying out, representing the travels of Malayalis to various countries. Inside, a parrot picks out fortune-telling cards, only that the cards are written in different foreign languages. Also included in the installation are representations of the construction boom, fuelled by the remittances from abroad.
The sculptor had done his last installation work way back in 1979, in front of the Kanakakkunnu Palace.
'Sculptures are installations'
“Back then, no one here was familiar with this form called installation. I had studied about it during my visits abroad. But then, even sculptures are in a way installations. I have dedicated my life to public art. I believe that art should be for the public and not for the elite, which is why I have not taken up lucrative offers to carry out private work,” he says.
