KOCHI: Employing one’s own creativity for a noble cause can trigger the purest of blissful moments at heart. When that cause in turn acts as a catalyst to activate positivity in another’s life, it reflects humanity, compassion and resilience. Students and faculties of the Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur are currently experiencing the same through their fine art fair ‘Memorabilia 2018’.
As a means to aid people who have been struggling for survival post the harrowing floods in August, the college management has decided to organise an art festival - a dream which they had cherished for a long time. “Almost all the art institutions around the world have their own art festivals to exhibit the application of inter-disciplinary elements in pure art. On the line of the ‘Nandan Mela’ of the Visva-Bharati University that presented the idea of affordable art, GCFATCR also wished to organise such an event. After the destruction of the floods, we decided to conduct such a fair to raise funds for rebuilding the state,” said Manoj P K, principal, Govt College of Fine Arts, Thrissur.
“The entire fest is being organised by utilising the existing resources we have. For the last one month, students and faculty members have been working hard to make art objects ranging from paintings, sculptures and textiles. Other than this, students and faculties have contributed to CMDRF,” he said.
Flooded with requests from the public, the college has decided to extend the art fair for another week. “Half of the exhibited items have already been sold. As many people have requested, we extended it for another week and will continue to exhibit at our Art Gallery,” he said.
The major highlight of the exhibition is the ‘Memorabilia Calender’ - a one-page calendar that has inculcated the paintings made by the students and faculties. “The fair opens up many surprises to the visitors. Other than the calendar, we offer Cyanotype printing, live portraits, clay modelling and many others,” said Aswajith, a final year student.
Renowned artists including sitarist Raghunandan Master and theatre performer O C Martin have performed as part of the fest. The fest will be open to visitors between 10 am to 8 pm.