The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Kolam students look for wider canvas

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Kolam students look for wider canvas

S. Harpal Singh

PHOTO: S. HARPAL SINGH

TRIBAL TALENT: Guruji Ravinder Sharma displaying paintings made by Kolam students in Adilabad.

ADILABAD: Looking constantly as it does to explore new activities for development of tribals, the government can introduce teaching of fine arts in tribal schools.

An experiment in Adilabad district in the past to mould Kolam students as painters, metal casters, sculptors and terra cotta artists had been highly successful though it was not followed up with logical steps.

Art school

“The inclination and talent displayed by students of the primitive Kolam tribe had so convinced the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor, that it planned to open a ‘Kolam Art School’ in Adilabad town in 1995. The students had just returned from Hyderabad from a successful exhibition that featured their paintings and terra cotta work,” recalled Guruji Ravinder Sharma of Kala Ashram, Adilabad, who is a drawing teacher at the Kolam Ashram School.

The effort to mould Kolam students as artists started in 1985. A group of 20 students learnt a range of fine arts under the tutelage of Guruji.

High point

The high point of these students was the exhibition at Yatri Nivas, Secunderabad, where personalities of the world of art appreciated the work of the tribal students. The talent and training of the boys was so good that some of them had even functioned as ‘master’ metal casters at Srisailam ITDA.

“The ITDA had also planned to facilitate an interaction between the tribal students and renowned artists like P.T. Reddy, Laxma Goud, Sudhakar Reddy and others. Had this workshop materialised, the young Kolams would have boasted of rich exposure in the field of art,” observes Guruji about another attempt that had failed.

‘Naturally talented’

“Kolams are like naturally talented artists. The manner in which the students drew their lines exhibited perfection. They were imaginative and creative too. They sketched fantastically even when the topics ranged as diversely as ‘Chipko movement’ and tales from the Panchatantra. A German artist had even called their paintings as contemporary Kolam art,” adds Guruji.

The ITDA could once again try opening the Kolam Art School. It was envisaged on the lines of sports schools. The building that had earlier been allotted to this school is behind the polytechnic college and is being used as special hostel for tribal students.

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