CHENNAI: Around 50 paintings welcome you into the second floor of Lalit Kala Akademi. Pictures of women dancing share the wall with pictures of bulls and roosters. These paintings, made by N Kirubanandham and P Thirnavakkarasu, were displayed by the Ministry of Arts and Culture and Nunkali Kuzhu, Government of Tamil Nadu, in an exhibition called Thiru & Kiruba: Crossroads and Beyond.
Kiruba and Thiru were classmates at the Government College of Fine Arts, Kumbakonam in the late 90s. “At the time, the competition to enter the Government College was much higher than it is now. So, we went to a coaching class in 1991, and that was when we met and became friends,” says Thiru. Their 20-year friendship from then on has led to them hosting their exhibitions together, despite the fact that Kiruba lives in Chennai and Thiru in Madurai.
Kiruba’s exhibition is titled Childhood Memories. A collection of 25 paintings and a few sketches, the exhibition focuses on the memories he had from his village, Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam, from his childhood. Although he has a corporate job in Chennai now, the memories he has from his village still persist in his mind, and he began working on the project in 1997, right after college. “I used a more abstract style to depict these scenes from my village. They are memories that have always been in the back of my mind, and I drew a lot of bulls and roosters, because those were what I saw a lot at home. I never set out to conduct this exhibition, I just kept drawing these pictures over the course of 20 years,” says Kiruba.
A woman sitting on the front porch of her house, threading jasmine onto a string — Thiru thinks this scene represents the theme of feminism, which is what his exhibition is based on. “I showed women dancing because I feel that women are always oppressed and not allowed to speak out, and can only express their frustration through the arts,” explains Thiru, who has exhibited 22 pieces at the exhibition.
Coming from a small village near Thanjavur, Thiru feels that the societal pressures on rural women are more when compared to their urban counterparts. Rural women, he says, are forced to behave and act a certain way, while urban women have less restrictions due to a more progressive environment. “It is also important that women are given the same facilities that men get. They must also receive an education and be allowed to work. Feminism, to me, means equality, and once women and men are on the same level, then most of the issues that women face will be taken care of automatically,” says Thiru. One of his paintings shows a woman, seated on a chair, reading a book, and for Thiru this painting depicts how we should proceed in the future.
The exhibition will be held at Lalit Kala Akademi on Greams Road, till October 28, and is open for viewing from noon to 8 pm. For more details, contact 9884247182 or 9444152354.