Kerala Great Cultural and Art Loving Place Says A Ramachandran

11 Aug 2013
Kochi

The 21st-century Kerala is becoming a better place for art, according to renowned painter-sculptor, A Ramachandran. The state has moved forward by opening itself up to the larger world of art outside its geographical boundaries, but its visual arts sensibility has scope to become more active, the Padma Bhushan-winning septuagenarian says in the run-up to his first-ever show in native Kerala.

Ramachandran, who left Thiruvananthapuram in 1957 to do higher studies in art at Santiniketan, notes that the cultural environment in Kerala those days was not congenial for artists, prompting many talented artists to leave the southern state.

“Of late, a few in that generation are getting a chance to exhibit their work back home,” the Delhi-based master observes ahead of his large exhibition starting in Kochi on August 11. The 15-day exhibition, being organized by the Vadehra Art Gallery (VAG) and curated by art historian R Siva Kumar of Visva-Bharati University, is a compact retrospective of the artist and will showcase 100 works.

Ramachandran, who has been living in the national capital since 1964, recalls that Malayali artists had found it tough to flourish in Kerala even in the first half of the 20th century. “That is how and why K.C.S Paniker, C. Madhava Menon and K.G. Subramanyan left for greener pastures. The local system was non-supportive.”

Source– http://english.manoramaonline.com/Cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentId=14724115&tabId=1&programId=11565556&channelId=-1073865025

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