Kerala   

Promoting art, and the artists

It has been a long journey, a remarkable one too. Anoop Skaria and Dorrie Younger are preparing for the 10th anniversary of Kashi, which began as art café and is now an art gallery. “When we started, our mission was to help others change the way they looked at art. It remains the same now,” Dorrie said. Anoop joined her, “Visual art here is defined by electronic media and films. Ideally, it should be led by artists.”

They realise that the world has changed. They started when Durbar Art Gallery was not a hot spot. There were not many galleries around to give them confidence to launch one. So they started a café with walls open for displaying art. “For seven years, the café supported the gallery,” Dorrie recalls. After the Kashi Art Café made a name in Fort Kochi, the movement grew to have space on Bazaar Road in Mattanchery. Kashi Art Gallery was born. Now they also have two places for residency programmes for artists.

“We support young talents, provide them space to interact with other artists,” said Anoop. This support comes without tags attached to it. “We allow them to make mistakes, without the world seeing it. And we bear the cost,” said Dorrie.

The couple’s dilemma is about finding a balance between running a gallery and supporting for upcoming artists. Especially when youngsters turn up, asking them where to find buyers for their works. For the time being, the duo is trying to make most out of the milestone in their movement. An exhibition of works by 38 artists is being planned. The show will start on December 15 evening, on a musical note.

Kashi — Ten Light Years, as the celebrations is called, will begin with a sitar recital by Pandit Ajit Singh, followed by Asima – a fusion vocal and percussionist group. The artists whose works come up for the show are Aji V.N., Alex Mathew, Anant Joshi, Anil Kumar Janardhanan, Anup Mathew Thomas, Babu Xavier, Baghyanathan, Bose Krishnamachari, Chintan Upadhyay, C.V. Ramesh, Gayatri Gamuz, George Martin P.J., Gopikrishna, Hema Upadhyay, Jyothi Basu, Jyothikumar, Mohandas N.N., Nijeena Neelambaran, N.N. Rimzon, Prajakta Palav, Rajan Krishnan, Reghunadhan K., Reji K.P., Riyas Komu, Sheetal Gattani, Sosa Joseph, Sudarshan Shetty, Sunil Gawde, Sunoj D., Suresh Jayaram, T.M. Aziz, T.P. Premjee, T.V. Santhosh, Upendranath T.R., Valsan Koorma Kollari, Vivek Vilasini, Yashwant Deshmukh and Zakkir Hussain.

Anand Haridas

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Kerala doctors suspend strike for four weeks
Pilgrims protest at Sabarimala
Arm of the law is stronger than muscle power peoplespeak
Next issue
No more scurrying for souvenirs Tourism Trail
Thoughts for company
Promoting art, and the artists
Panel on Vallarpadam project
Isaac refutes reports
‘Ganja mafia’ on the run
Today at Sabarimala
Curbing campus violence Law & order
Engagements: Thrissur
Mullakkara to open farmers’ meet
Five die of heart attack
Attappady tribals face threat of extinction
Fine on motorists fills State’s coffers Law & order
In recognition

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu