Stories come from different corners of the room. Women in groups of twos and threes huddle to speak about art, to point fingers at their paintings hanging at a hall in Turtle on the Beach, a resort in Kovalam. On Saturday, the organisers have put together a pre-launch event, ahead of an exhibition of mural paintings by women, titled Mural Mahabharatam. “The pre-launch is a first of its kind in Thiruvananthapuram and a beach (Kovalam) is ideal for any artist to work,” says Manjula Arun, coordinator.
The man leading them all in this nearly four-year-old project, Prince Thonnakkal, is at the centre of the hall, telling the story of how they have together made 113 paintings to depict the longest epic in the world, the Mahabharata, in murals.
“There are students here from 35 years to 75 years of age, homemakers coming from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and one of them even from New Delhi,” Prince says. His wife Sangeetha is also among the 35 women who came together for the exhibition, each with at least three paintings. “He has been crucial in bringing about this change, that women could paint murals too. It is usually all men who make wall art in temples,” she says. Most of the concept came from one of the senior-most members in the group, Usha Rajan, who stands up to tell the younger artists to continue pursuing the hard work that she may not be able to, because of her age.
“There are basically three categories — the story of the Pandavas from childhood to the war, the Geethopadesham that Krishna gives Arjuna at the time of the war, and what happens after the war. A number of subjects were listed and then lots were drawn to decide who will paint what,” says Dania Ganesh, one of the artists, who joined Prince’s classes because of her fascination for wall paintings. Another student Dhanya V. says she paints mostly on the theme of nature and man, apart from the usual mythology depicted in mural works.
Meenakumari, another veteran in the group, says she is one of the first students of Prince, along with actor Menaka Suresh and lecturer Ambika. She herself had retired from the postal department. Age appears to not be the slightest block to these women who have taken to art at different stages in life. Santha Gopinathan Pillai says she started at the age of 65, and that was ten years ago. Someone introduces her as the mother of the acclaimed makeup artist Ambika Pillai. “I have four children, all of whom are into makeup. But before they were all born I used to do makeup for brides — there were no beauty parlours back then,” she says, laughing, easily a favourite among the other women. After her husband died and she had little to do at home, her friend Usha Rajan brought her to the world of art. And she has five paintings of Geethopadesham.
One among the most colourful of the lot is Suma Shankar’s mural, with its parrot green women’s costumes. “We are supposed to use only five colours — saffron, yellow, green, blue and black. The white you see is the canvas, unpainted,” she says.
Bindhu V.C., who left her job at the IGNOU for her art, says she began a venture called Handiq Gurukulam to teach art, craft, cooking and tailoring to women, and this includes Thursday afternoon sessions at the Kerala Gazetted Officers Front. Another artist, Viji Murugan, remains slightly withdrawn at the back of the hall. This is the first function she is attending, after the tragic death of her nephew, an accident that shocked Thiruvananthapuram. Adarsh, 24, son of the owner of the city-based SP Grand Days, had died in a car crash in Kowdiar two months ago. Viji’s paintings hang on every floor of SP Grand Days, just outside the lift.
There are still more stories, for all 35 women have something to say. Their works will be exhibited along with the single one Vishwaroopam that their guru painted, at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, from January 26 to 31. These will also be released in a book ‘Mural Mahabharatam’ with text along with the paintings, by J. Lalithambika, on January 25.
