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A glimpse into art from across the ages

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

exploring history: K.T. Gandhirajan explaining his work at the exhibition in Puducherry on Saturday.

PUDUCHERRY: Tracing the history of paintings in Tamil Nadu, a Chennai-based artist-cum-researcher has displayed his 12-year-old collection of photographs at an exhibition.

Titled “Citra Kal”, the exhibition showcases the paintings of Tamil Nadu across the ages.

The artist, K.T. Gandhirajan, has explored remote areas of the State, including tribal hills, to depict the various painting traditions. This is his first exhibition in Puducherry.

According to him, the paintings in Tamil Nadu go back 5,000 years. “The exhibition consists of photographs of paintings belonging to the pre-historic period, mural paintings in temples during the historical period and contemporary paintings,” he said.

The collection, showcasing 50 photographs, includes the realistic paintings of the Irulas and ritualistic paintings of the Kurumba tribes.

The 39-year-old artist is also a guest lecturer at the Government College of Fine Arts, Chennai. “I am writing a book on paintings of Tamil Nadu through the ages. My first discovery of the paintings was in 1998 at Usilampatti near Madurai,” he said.

The collections include works from the 9th, 10th, 11th and 14th centuries.

“The aim of the exhibition is to make people aware of the painting tradition. Several of these paintings on temple walls are being destroyed during renovation and its value is not realised.

Apart from this, cave paintings are not documented nor preserved. No research goes into these paintings,” he pointed out.

The exhibition, inaugurated on July 24, will go on till July 31 at the Colombani House, Alliance Francaise.

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