Inauguration by the Guest of Honor
Suresh Jayaram (Well-known Art Historian & Curator)
Reflections
Shailesh Nayak (Director, NIAS)
Anil Kumar HA (Srishti Manipal)
Srivi Kalyan (Srishti Manipal)
Sangeetha Menon (NIAS CSP)
About the Exhibition
India's cultural heritage is known for its dynamic and diverse array of folk traditions. Teyyaṁ, Tiṟayāṭṭaṁ, and Paṭayaṇi are few of the numerous folk arts of the North Malabar. The artists use traditional painting practices such as mughathezhuth (facial art) and melezhuth (body art) to level up the artistic quality of the performances to epic proportions. In Tiṟayāṭṭaṁ, elaborate ornamentation and decorative accessories are just as crucial as the lively and vibrant dance steps. For one reason or another, many of these living traditions are being forgotten, abandoned, or lost along with the values, ways and worlds of the past and its connection with the present. This exhibition is a curation of elaborate ornamentation such as decorative accessories and mughathezhuth (facial art) of Tiṟayāṭṭaṁ, through the stories of Bhagavatī, Ghaṇṭākarṇan, Karivilli, Karumakan, Kariyāttan, Bhairavan, Guḷikan, Kuṭṭiccāttan, Mūrtti, and Nāgakāḷi which are woven through twenty-five paintings. Acrylic, water colour, and pencil colour have been primarily used for the paintings. Artists involved in this project were all women and are part of the organisation called “Hive” - the Fine Arts Society of Lady Shri Ram College for Women (University of Delhi). Amrutha MK is the Curator of the paintings. The paintings and curation were done when India was going through its first wave of the pandemic. The primary objective of the initiative was to bring to light, a ritual art practice and a community that are in the marginal space of society. In brief, the goal of this curation was to recognise the marginal communities, their art traditions that are less known, and play a role in social service through the presentations of lives and living in the marginal space of the society. The Exhibition will be open to public from 2 to 5 August, 11.00 am to 4.00 pm.
About the Curator
Ms Amrutha MK is a Research Associate with the Consciousness Studies Programme (School of Humanities) at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). She is pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Sangeetha Menon. Her primary research interests span the areas of literature, art criticism, and aesthetics, exploring Indian aesthetic theories and performing arts. Her doctoral study focuses on “A Theoretical Study of Two Ethnic Performances - Tirayattam and Sarpamthullal: Interpretations using Dhvani Theory of Indian Aesthetics”.
About the Project
The Curation and Exhibition is part of a project of the NIAS Consciousness Studies Programme called “NAVARANG: The Colours, Moods, and Voices of the Marginal and Indigenous Communities”, with the initiative of building textual and visual narratives on tribal healers, ritual arts, food culture, and local ecologies of India. The Project is being supported by the Sheela Kanoria Foundation, New Delhi.