When art comes to a village
K. KUNHIKRISHNAN
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Little is known about the art gallery in Kathirur village in Kerala.
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Showcase for local talent: "Ghatadeepam" by K.M. Sivakrishnan.
ART galleries are associated with cities and towns. Ever since the first art gallery was set up in Louvre, Paris, after the French Revolution to display the royal treasures, art galleries sprang up in major towns. They are meant to display and sell art and naturally were meant for the urban elite and rich.
All the major cities of India have more than one gallery displaying the works of well-known artists. But there are only two art galleries in rural India: one in Naggar village, 30 miles from Kuli, set up by the Government of Himachal Pradesh as part of the centenary celebrations of Svetoslav Roerich. The other is in Kathirur village near Thalassery in Kannur district of Kerala. The latter is a purely voluntary effort of the local community.
Community participation
The entire village participated in the formulation of the gallery. Representatives from all walks of life — politicians, social workers, teachers, cultural activists, artists — formed a committee. Many famous artists hail from this village and hence a gallery to exhibit the works of painters who had moved away from the village and of those who continue their pursuit within the village was like a dream come true. The committee conducted painting camps and encouraged budding artists. It systematically collected the creations of the famous painters whose number is estimated at more than two-dozen (a record for a small village whose population numbers only a few thousands). There was a problem of space to exhibit the paintings and the Kathirur village panchayat president gracefully allowed his chamber to be used for the purpose. The Committee also procured prints of paintings by doyens like Raja Ravi Varma and K.C.S. Paniker to be part of gallery.
Northern Kerala is rich in folk traditions and ritual dances. There are also expert artisans and weavers who make the costumes for these arts. All these traditions are reflected in the exhibits of the gallery. There are 37 paintings and a library in the grama panchayat office. The gallery is located about five km from Thalassery town. Though public transport is available, there are not too many visitors to the gallery.
Sankara Narayana Marar, the moving spirit behind the gallery, has the distinction of creating a new form of moss painting. Almost all the exhibits are by outstanding painters who have bagged laurels within India and abroad like K.R. Babu, Madhu Madapally, Sasikumar Kandoth, Suresh Kuthuparamba, Karunakaran, Balagopalaan, Sekharan Ayyanthole, Hareendran Chalad. There are murals, wall paintings, watercolours, acrylic displaying a variety of themes in abstract and direct modes.
Artists beyond the confines of North Kerala do not know of the gallery. It is yet to receive due attention from connoisseurs, artists, and the media. Though enthusiastic, the organisers lack the finances essential to promote an art gallery in a rural, sleepy village.
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