There are no walls here, only questions, textures, and stories waiting to open up. The MFA degree show, ‘Rooms Without Walls’, by the final-year Painting and Sculpture students of the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, is less of an exhibition and more of a dialogue with fragments of the world we live in.
Sculptures formed from everyday industrial remnants, paper pulp, cardboard, and even discarded newspapers, challenge the idea of permanence. Paintings move between the meditative quiet of solitude and the raw urgency of environmental decay. Found and forgotten objects are pulled back into life on the canvas, layered with memory and meaning. Metal spikes, chains, and raw rubber tell the stories of Kerala’s long history of struggle and survival. Photographs and mixed-media works speak of empowerment, identity, and our fragile relationship with nature...
And alongside these are pieces that invite viewers to explore the intricate layers that often go beyond what the artist explicitly conveys across the seven galleries of the college.
“Every year, the Fine Arts College hosts degree shows for its final-year BFA and MFA students to give them a platform to share their work with the world. This time, we wanted to approach it differently — as a collective, and that is how Rooms without Walls came about,” says Sandra Thomas, one of the 14 students participating in the exhibition, which was inaugurated by Bose Krishnamachari.
The materials, mediums, and styles vary, but a strong connection runs through all the works, whether it is self-reflection, questions of existence, or responses to what is happening around us, she adds. “That is why we felt a group show would make more sense. With the title, we are trying to say that these depictions will continue to live on; they are not confined to the walls of a gallery or a space.”
The artists describe the exhibition as a collective emergence of voices and processes, where material turns into a path that carries us to the unique world encompassed in each work. Instead of building strict themes, the students wanted to let the works resonate with each other, allowing connections to be discovered naturally. For them, this show is not an end but a beginning, something beyond an exhibition and one that stays alive in the continued conversations.
“In many ways, this show brings attention to things that were never included in or fully acknowledged by history. It’s also an attempt to notice and respond to aspects of everyday life — the subtle, often overlooked details. In that sense, the artworks here provoke the viewers. That, I believe, is one of the key aims of this exhibition,” says Akhiljith, faculty, Department of Painting.
The group show also features works by Adithya S Kumar, Amal Jith O J, Amal Puthukudi, Athul K P, Chandan Gour, Jinto Bijo, Nithin Das M V, Rahul Buski, Rahul P P, Rajaneesh K K, Sabhin S S, Shajith R B, and Vishnu Chandran R.
And the exhibition is drawing many curious visitors. For medical student Aparna Menon from Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, it was a random flex board that invited her onto the campus. This is her first time seeing an art exhibition. “They have all done a beautiful job with this show. I felt like each artwork holds so many meanings,” she says.
The college is also hosting a range of workshops, including doll-making sessions, sketching, film screenings, discussions and presentations.
“After six years of intense art practice, these students are now stepping out. Until now, they were students. From this moment onward, they are artists,” says Manesha Deva Sarma, faculty of the Sculpture Department.
However, Manesha is also concerned about the future of art in Kerala. “Kerala is a state where people are highly educated, but how many truly engage with art? How many walk into a fine arts college? Are artists and their works being recognised by society? These are important questions,” he says.
He also draws attention to the lack of a strong art market in the state, where people hesitate to buy an original painting for their home.
“They prefer mass-produced, printed material over supporting living artists. This makes me wonder, do we, as a society, have the aesthetic sensibility to invest in art?” he asks. Also, he adds, unlike cities such as Delhi or Mumbai, where large private galleries actively support emerging artists, Kerala lacks such infrastructure. This gap needs to be addressed to build a sustainable ecosystem for contemporary art, he asserts.
The exhibition will conclude on August 3.