The atmosphere at Weavers Village is one of camaraderie as a group of youngsters prepare the works of setting up an exhibition. While some are busy hanging up paintings to be exhibited, others are creating an air of festivity in and around the venue. The exhibition, ‘The Series’, features art, photographs, writings and music. Thirty-odd artistes, most of them members of The Hidden Tales, a social media group, will be displaying their creative works and creativity at the three-day fête. “Some of them like Visakh Joji, who specialises in charcoal painting, and Naomi, who does mural-inspired paintings, are from the city,” says Lekshman Ajithan, a founder- member of group.
Athira Sajeev T
Visakh says his works are mostly portraits. “I am fascinated with eyes. In fact, a series of paintings I did, inspired by posters of the television series Game of Thrones , are half portraits. While the face and body are in monochrome, the eye has shades of blue,” says the graduate from Central Polytechnic, Vattiyoorkavu.
Athira Sajeev T, however, enjoys doing realistic paintings as it requires time and effort. The 23-year-old architect from Kozhikode has two works of hers on display at the exhibition. “One is a painting of a tiger and the other is a kingfisher. Both are in acrylic,” says Athira.
Photography is engineering drop-out Ashil Shibi’s forte. The 23-year-old uses his mobile phone to capture images that capture his fancy. Ashil has one of his photographs that depicts Kathakali chamayam of two artistes on display.
A painting at The Series exhibition at Weavers Village
Seventeen-year-old Indrajith KS hopes he will recover his voice in time for his show tonight. An English rapper, his songs are about hope and support for those who are battling depression. Indrajith, who has started his own music label called Dogs of Hell hopes to promote up-and-coming musicians through it.
And that is exactly what The Hidden Talent is about, says Lekshman. “We are an art movement that is hoping to remove all barriers towards becoming an artiste.”
The Hidden Talent was a WhatsApp group formed by Lekshman, Ashil, Hari Krishnan, Midhun Murali and Karen Sigi, then students of Sree Narayana Gurukulam College of Engineering, Kadayiruppu. “All of us enjoyed photography and would share our works amongst each other. As we wanted someone to write about what inspired us to take the shots, we added writers into our group. We then gradually added musicians, artists... and the group grew,” says Lekshman.
Lekshman Ajithan and Ashil Shibi
Their Instagram account according to Lekshman, garnered them more members. They now have WhatsApp groups for artistes in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and two in Kerala. “We also have dedicated groups for musicians, writers, photographers and the like,” says Lekshman.
Realising that their group had talented members who needed a platform for them to display their creativity, they organised an exhibition featuring 60 artistes in Kochi last year. “We have also held an exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram and several other districts.”
The Series is a series of exhibitions that will be held across Kerala. “We will be concentrating on displaying the creative talents of local artistes at each district. The exhibition will travel to Kollam, then Alappuzha and conclude in Kochi.”
A work by Ashil Shibi
As for the mish-mash display of creativity at the exhibition, Lekshman says: “We wanted to break the mould of a traditional exhibition. Often at exhibitions, the artist will not be able to give viewers a perspective of their work. We want our exhibitions to be lively, interactive, a festivity of sorts.”
The Series will be on at The Weavers Village, Vazhuthacaud until January 19
