THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As part of Keraleeyam -- the week-long mega event being organised to showcase the achievements and cultural heritage of Kerala to the world -- the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi has kicked off an extensive curated art exhibition, a camp of contemporary painters and a live caricature event at the Kanakakunnu Palace.
The five-day caricature event was launched on Thursday. Two artists will be available at the event every day to create caricatures for visitors. Artists Ratheesh Ravi, Anoop Radhakrishnan, Vinaya Tejaswi, Basheer Keezhissery, Sajeev Balakrishnan, A Satheesh, Jayaraj T G, Sajeev Sooranad, and T S Santhosh will participate in the live caricature event.
Akademi secretary K P Mohanan told TNIE that Keraleeyam is very relevant in present-day India. “Through this event, we can highlight the rich diversity and cultures in our country. I don’t believe the government is splurging money on this event. The people should understand the actual reason behind the financial crisis the state is going through. This is not only about entertainment and parallelly so many relevant discussions are happening which is very decisive for the future development of Kerala,” he said.
He added that the exhibition at Kanakakunnu is getting a good response and they expect more people to visit in the coming days.
The art exhibition titled ‘ Maps of Our Skin’ is curated by Jitha Karthikeyan and features the works of the following artists: Amy Atmaja, A Ananthalal, Anitha T K, Anupama Elias, Bhagyanath C, Chitra E G, Dipin Thilakan, Hima Hariharan, Jyothi Basu, Jyothiraj Mayampilly, Jyothikumar, Mibin, Madhu Venugopalan, K T Mathai, K K Muhammed, Nandan P V, Neelima Nath, Nijina Neelambaran, Rathidevi Panicker, Rajani S R, Sajitha R Sankar, Shanti E N, P R Satheesh, Shaji N Jaleel, Shibu Natesan, Siji Krishnan, Sooraj K S, K Sudheesh, Surendran Nair, Tom J Vattakuzhi and Zakir Hussain.
The Akademy is also organising an art exhibition curated by founders of Lakshmi Nivas Collective Sunoj D and Namrata Niyog. The exhibition includes the works of the following artists: Sreenath K S, Sanath Sugathan, Bose Krishnamachari, Anand Kalpakasseri, Ajay K P, Vipin Dhanurdharan, Sandra Thomas, Vasudev M Nair, Nandu Krishna P S, Sudheer C, K Jayanandan and Nirmala Neema. Akademi secretary N Balamuralikrishnan said that there will also be a display and sale of the Akademy’s publications and products as part of the event, which will end on Tuesday.