KOCHI: This is a story of perseverance and determination by a woman artist, whose paintings were first 'rejected' by the Kerala Lalitha Kala Academy saying they were 'sub-standard' and not qualified to be displayed at its art gallery in Kochi.
Shiny Sudheer, an art teacher at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Tripunithura, fought against all odds and even got the State Human Rights Commission to intervene in the matter, forcing the authorities to allow her paintings to be displayed at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery here.
"My works are not unknown to the Lalitha Kala Academy as it is not the first time I am conducting the exhibition. Earlier I had conducted many solo exhibitions approved by the Academy. My works have earlier also dealt with the social issues faced by women in our society," said Shiny.
It has been around 25 years since Shiny has been studying and teaching art students and earlier also her solo paintings were exhibited in many galleries of the academy in Kozhikode, Thrissur, and Kalady.
"When we applied on January 1 this year, the academy gave the dates from December 26 to 30. The usual process after allocation of dates involves evaluation of the paintings by the committee of the academy after two weeks. On enquiring, it was known that the decision was made by a single-man committee, which seemed very unfair. Therefore with the permission of the academy itself, we approached the Commission. Later the Academy decided to allot the same dates for conducting the exhibition," said Shiny.
Shiny said that her paintings are close to her heart and it was not something to be kept within four walls. "The painting echoes the atrocities and mental exploitation faced by women and children in our society. Women are getting raped, discriminated, beaten in our society for merely been born. Through my paintings, I want people to show the realities of life," said Shiny.
"Many who had turned up at the gallery had appreciated my works and as far as an artist is considered it means a lot," she said.