Wrapped in small and big corners of Hawa Mahal are a motley of concepts -- nature, changing lifestyles, evolution and nostalgia. They reflect what we see around us through the creative perceptions of artists.
These works of six MFA final year students from Shantiniketan and 16 final year students of BFA and MFA from Andhra University are essentially all about what they saw, pondered over and reacted during their field visit to various places in the city. Rooted in an open studio concept, (a studio or workroom which is accessible to all, where artistic or creative work can be viewed and created collaboratively), this space of art is buzzing with activity as the artists go about lending final touches to their works. The open studio is the culmination of the six-day art activity, an initiative of the Students’ Biennale that is a part of the annual Kochi Muziris Biennale.
Recurrent themeThe city with its strange co-existence of the new and the old, its age-old culture and its gradual metamorphosis are a recurrent theme in the art works. Most of the art works are done with the scraps and images taken by the artists during their field visit. In the centre of the place is an artistic impression of the fishing colony, Jalaripeta. While on one corner is a sail of the boat, ropes are tied across the roof with the scrap found on the shores of Jalaripeta. On the floor the fishing colony is being artistically mapped by the three artists – R. Bijith, Rangskhembor Mawblei and Supriyo Manna. “This is our reflection of the life and times of the fishermen of the colony which we are trying to depict through our perspectives in the form of art,” they say.
Sayantan Samanta’s art work reflects a telling tale of the fading away of age-old Andhra jewellery making practices which are being replaced by newer practices. “During my field study at jewellery making workshops near the Town Hall area here, I realised that the traditional jewellery makers of Andhra were being gradually replaced by machine-made designs. Most of the jewellery makers are from Bengal now. In my view, in another five to seven years, many of the traditional Andhra jewellery makers will be totally wiped out. Such changes are being reflected in the gold designs of the region which have gone through a change,” explains the artist, who hails from a family of jewellery makers.
Others like N. Prathyusha and T. Rajasekhar are making an artistic reflection of the Poorna Market with its socio-cultural dynamics. “Site specific art and open studios are a form of cultural mapping which becomes an aesthetic expression of the artist,” says Sanchayan Ghosh, faculty member of Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan. “The concept of open studio is new for the city. This is a new form of dialogue between the artist and the viewer,” says Noman Ammouri, curator of the art activity. Art lovers can visit the open studio at Hawa Mahal on August 23.
