The sculptures made as part of the second phase of the ‘Shilpanagaram’ project were unveiled by Mayor A.K. Premajam at the Bhatt Road beach here on Saturday.
The project, executed by the Kerala Laithakala Academy along with the District Tourism Promotion Council, has converted the historic city of Kozhikode into a ‘City of Sculptures’ in the true sense of the word with sculptures by eminent artists adorning every prominent space in the city.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has declared the city a ‘Shilpanagaram’ on June 7, 2012, by unveiling ‘Remembrance’ by Advait Gadanaik from Odisha.
The first phase of the project consisted of a month-long sculptors’ camp headed by internationally acclaimed artist K.S. Radhakrishnan. Twelve sculptures made by noted sculptors from across the country were installed at key locations in the city as part of the project. This includes Mr. Radhakrishnan’s ‘Time Tides’ which has found a key position in the middle of Mananchira Square. The other sculptures installed in the city in the first phase include ‘Rhythmic Silence’, a 24-foot-tall sculpture by V.K. Rajan; ‘Mazhavilakku’ by Johns Mathew, based on water exploitation at Plachimada; ‘Aparan’ by P.E. Hochimin; ‘The Fire’ by Joseph M. Varghese based on the myths Ethirpokkan and Ottamulachi ; ‘ The Triumph ’ by Nandu Bihari Das depicting the sea trade of Kozhikode, ‘ The sanctuary of a tablet ’ by Rajendra Tikku and Deepika Saha’s ‘ The mother ’.
The second phase of the project involved a 20-day granite artists’ camp headed by Kozhikode’s very own artist Jeevan Thomas. Rajashekharan Nair, Valsan Kolleri, Anila Jacob, K.P. Pradeep Kumar, Nijeena Neelambaran and Rajeev were the other sculptors who took part in the camp that started on November 5, 2012.
The finished sculptures were installed in various locations on the Kozhikode Beach on Saturday.