ART CAMP ‘The Bridge,' organised by Gowry Art Institute at Kallar, provided a forum for creative individuals from all walks of life to synergise their thoughts on the arts
A rtist Sajitha Shankar's Gowry Art Institute stands on a sharp curve in the Vamanapuram river at Kallar, about 40 km from Thiruvananthapuram city. The curve creates an island of sorts, and offers a unique vantage point to the institute, from where one can see the mountains and forests in the Ponmudi range. Across the river, right in front of Gowry Art, is a bridge that crosses to the Adivasi settlements on the other bank. The bridge became both metaphor and reality at an event organised by Gowry Art, this past weekend. Termed ‘The Bridge,' the event was a three-day camp for creative individuals from various fields; it was meant to spark off a meaningful conversation across the arts and disciplines, and craft a new togetherness through spontaneous interaction.
Sunday morning saw 16 of us at Kallar eating a late breakfast of idlis at a bamboo hut built close to the river Among the participants were poets D. Vinayachandran and Savithtri Rajeevan, Adivasi healer Lakshmikutty Kani, cinematographer Sunny Joseph, critic B. Rajeevan, sound recordist Harikumar Madhavan Nair, writers Meera Asok and Siddiq Muhammed, art director Razi, Ayurveda doctor Vijayan M.R., up-and-coming poets Ashalata and Sreedevi B. Karta, academicians Sajith A.S. and Sudha Rajakumar, student Roshanara Meherin, organiser and artist Sajitha Shankar, and myself. The camp generally had the pleasant feel of an open house with several participants returning to the city in the evenings, and new arrivals enthusing ongoing meetings. Among the distinguished visitors was writer M.K. Sanoo.
Breakfast was followed by an indoor round of introductions, after which Lakshmikutty Kani informally inaugurated ‘The Bridge' with a poem, clarifying her own name in the process. We learnt that kani itself is a misnomer for the community of Mala Arayar – kani was only the unit of land that they were portioned out. To the city-dwellers, the legend of Ponmudi, the mountain peak we were closest to, was new. We heard that the mountain was once rich with precious stones that the Mala Arayar had all too peacefully yielded to those in search of wealth.
Healthy interaction
The three-day camp involved walks to the forest settlements of the Mala Arayar in Kallar and Mottamoodu, poetry recitals, fiction and script readings as well as a documentary film screening, and story-telling sessions. The hallmark of the event was the healthy interaction and spontaneous dialogue between individuals from varied fields, made conducive by the homely atmosphere and interconnected architecture of Gowry Art. Readings, recitals, and narratives seemed to emerge without prompting throughout the day and night in probably what is the first such event to be held in Kerala. In interviews conducted after the event, the participants almost unanimously found the interaction of a creative community from various fields energising and rejuvenating. Some suggested that future events have more structure and thematically organised modules with moderators to encourage deeper exploration and to give sufficient feedback to emerging works. Lakshmikutty Kani felt the interaction was like the river, rising, ebbing and overflowing with its own inconsistent energy. Sajitha, whose work on archetypes and the alter body has drawn international attention, said she felt a new fire sparking in this experiment in creative togetherness. There was a general sense of liberation and joy in the unforced conversations, walks, and creative presentations with the guarantee of nature's benign presence. The interaction with the Adivasi communities drew divided responses. While some found it a fruitful learning experience, others felt a sense of tragedy and inadequacy in the city's late discovery of the forest. The event concluded with a generous gift from the Mala Arayar – a performance of the traditional ‘Chonan Kali' by six women and girls to the accompaniment of a bamboo stringed instrument by guru Sivanandan, at Gowry Art.
The synergy of creative diversity was matched by the Kallar river that in three days' rain welled up to a powerful flow while we human beings left, leaving nature to its own deep meditation.
Usha Zacharias
The three-day camp involved walks to the forest settlements of the Mala Arayar in Kallar and Mottamoodu, poetry recitals, fiction and script readings as well as a documentary film screening and story-telling sessions
