KOCHI: Rustic is the word. Surrealism too. The Heritage Centre in Mattancherry greets one with priceless antiques: made of wood, brass, and mixed metals, expounding tales that would fill one with awe. Amidst the idols and carved sculptures, are enormous eye-like structures. No, they are eyes! Fashioned out of palm leaves and Theyyam discards, the line ‘all eyes on me’ has never been more accurate. This, is EYE SPY, a Kochi-Muziris Biennale collateral, with four different spaces, curated by Srila Chatterjee.
This year, Vogue named Chatterjee one among 15 of India’s most powerful women in architecture and interior design. Therefore, it must be of no surprise to see an exquisite collection that triggers the viewer to think. Srila speaks to Express about her collaboration with WOLF Jaipur, comprising artists Ritu and Surya Singh, and the distinct theme of EYE SPY.
● As someone who’s no stranger to curation, how did you end up curating a collateral at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale?
I’ve known WOLF for some time now and collaborated on 3 projects together. I love what they do and the messages they send out. I thought it was time to take that to a much bigger space. The Biennale is the best stage for anything artistic in India and I am a huge fan. WOLF got super excited with the idea and immediately thought of what they could do that would be both appropriate and significant. We were then clearly on the road to finding a way to present a show and were very clear that for it to be seen, it would need official endorsement by the Biennale. I asked Ramesh Tharakkan for help at Kochi, and I was able to persuade ten supporters to give us the funds that the whole project needed so that’s how it all came together.
● How did this concept come about? Did you have a certain philosophy you wanted to adhere to?
The concept came from two fundamental thoughts: It needed to be connected to what the overall ‘theme’ of the Biennale was, as set by the curator, and it needed to be rooted in the WOLF philosophy of working with scrap, discards and completely locally found material.
● Could you talk about the four spaces and the inspirations behind EYE SPY?
In essence, EYE SPY is asking you to do four things: To open your eyes and see anew, to turn a mirror to yourself and reflect, to cleanse yourself of the prejudice and to walk into the light and embrace all possibility. Room 1 is all about the eyes. Palm leaves and Theyyam discards were used to create the eyes, with locally found fabric and scrap. Room 2 is all about the negativity within. The words that hang everywhere highlight these: bigotry, taboo, greed, for example, and are made from actual film negative that was part of the scrap found outside Aspinwall House. Room 3 takes inspiration from the Dhobi Khana of Kochi. The clothes on the lines are all cut from local fabric. The soap suds are made from the discarded bouys that fishermen used to keep their nets afloat.
The CDs that create the rainbow effect from sunlight reflecting on them - and allude to the rainbow suds that are washing clean your prejudice - were from a local scrap dealer. Room 4 is the Room of Light and Possibility. It’s the Kochi of yore where all were welcomed and made to feel a part of the city, making it a melting pot. The nets are from the fishermen, and the boats are made using broken brackets from Heritage Arts and Theyyam discards - dried palms and flowers. The ‘pepper’ bunches are made from the floats the fishermen use on nets. The jellyfish, the turtles, the mermaid diving into the water - all these are from coconut shells and discards. The Rainbow - symbol of hope - is from local saris.
● How long did it take you set up installations? Did you have to travel to different districts in Kerala to gather craftsmen and procure materials?
WOLF started work on November 11 and we were ready on December 6. The team worked on site from scratch. A core team of four did everything, assisted at stages for short bits of time by others. Two craftsmen from Kannur worked on the weaving of the palm fronds. We had visited the site twice before work started and WOLF had done extensive preparation. We were helped by someone in Kannur with the Theyyam discards, and WOLF made local contacts for all the material procured locally.
● Termed EYE SPY, does it mean that no perspective could be wrong?
Eye Spy is a game all children learn to play and by using this as the name, it allowed for the installation to have a whimsical element in the very important message it was conveying.The game encourages children to see things without preconceived filters, that’s what WOLF hoped to get people to do.
● For how long were you in Kochi? What did you spy here with your eye?
I visited thrice for the project. I didn’t have time to see everything and most of it was still going up when I left, but two things I really loved were Gangabai’s Gond installation and Nilima Shaikh’s work. I also really liked some of the work I saw coming up for the Student’s Biennale.