Going the Kochi Way - Contd..

T Kaladharan

Kalapeetom: Post-modernist bloom

Carrying an unmistakable halo of an artist about him – a quintessential embodiment of solidly set Platonic profile, like that of Rodin’s highly charged, angst ridden Thinker in motion, T Kaladharan, who studied art under the tutelage of MV Devan, almost single-handedly held the Kalapeetom banner high in Kochi’s cultural scene for over two-and-a-half decades. Nurturing young talents, mentoring upcoming artists, curating and organising innumerable contemporary art exhibitions and cultural events, film screenings and experimental theatre, bringing together poets, writers and other literary figures, performing artistes of various genres, and traditional craftsmen, Kaladharan’s total dedication and involvement was evident in every programme that Kalapeetom initiated or hosted.

“But it’s strange how the establishment sometimes negates all your creative contributions,” laments Kaladharan. Kalapeetom, once a dynamic and vibrant hub of cultural activities, is now moribund, with some of its valuable art collections stored away in a dark dungeon of a closed-down gallery at the Maharaja’s Stadium on PT Usha Road in Ernakulam. Utter neglect from public bodies, lack of infrastructural support, and dearth of funds can be cited as reasons for its pathetic state today.

“Kalapeetom was instrumental in bringing to fruition some of the great artistic assets that the city can now boast of,” says Kaladharan. “The Mukkola Perumal ensemble by Kanai Kunjiraman, displayed at the forecourt of the Greater Cochin Development Authority, is one of the most celebrated public sculptures in Kerala. Kalapeetom was involved in this project, and also in his Fertility sculpture project commissioned by FACT. We conducted two major international camps: the first one in 1990, with 14 sculptors – seven of them from abroad – and their sculptures adorning the Subash Bose Park near Ernakulam Boat Jetty, and the second in 2000 at the Changampuzha Park at Edapally, where 35 sculptors and artists contributed their work for a public cause. The Cochin Corporation couldn’t even redeem its commitment for partly funding the first camp, but the sculptures now remain as public monuments!”

Kaladharan, who has evolved a unique style of painting on the reverse side of glass panels – he has labelled the long series by a quirky nomenclature, “Orthik,” some sort of an acronym code that sprang out of a Malayalam phrase, “Orthu nokkikke,” (Just Imagine!) – has opened a spanking new studio and gallery space named Orthik Creative Centre, at his own Leelalayam premises on Karikkamuri Cross Road in Ernakulam, where he hosted Kalapeetom activities for years. He continues to organise art camps, with a cross-section of young and upcoming artists working on specialised mediums, like clay and terracotta, watercolour, graphics, sculpture, acrylic and oil.

“A lot of professionalism is called for in running a gallery. Wheeler-dealing in art is something else. For connoisseurs art is not just an investment, it’s something more sublime – a sustaining force of creative communion. Hence they look beyond the form, colour, ethnic values, the frame, catalogue, the technique; seeking out that intangible something, heartwarming element,” says Kaladharan, who just smiles indulgently when he hears about the astronomical price that some of his old protégés command in the market today.

Durbar Hall: Magnificent transformation 

A significant turning point in Kochi’s dramatic rise in the national art scene was, undoubtedly, the opening of a refurbished Durbar Hall Art Centre at Ernakulam in 1998. The 100-year-old Dutch style two-storey royal courthouse of the erstwhile Cochin Maharajah was partially handed over to the Kerala Lalit Kala Academy in 1991, but the State Archeology Department continued to occupy the ground floor, where it ran a museum. Later, the archeological artefacts were shifted to the Hill Palace Museum at Trippunithura.

“The renovated Contemporary Art Gallery at Durbar Hall has given a big boost to Lalit Kala Academy’s popular outreach programmes,” explains CN Karunakaran, who has just inaugurated his new term as the chairman of the Academy. “It enables us to bring art and the artists for a much closer interface with a wider audience. We are striving to remove the absurd patina of forbidding mystique that has surrounded art for a long while, and to make the language of art more accessible to ordinary people. The artists too benefit immensely from such world-class gallery support. They need to pay only Rs1,000 for the entire floor of the gallery. The Academy takes no commission on the sales of the art work. No wonder, it’s fully booked until March-April 2007!”

Karunakaran has plans to establish a reference library and a large collection of prints for sale. A full-fledged cafeteria is also to be added to the gallery complex. A library-edition quarterly on contemporary art review, updates and discourses is also among the new projects.