Charting his own course

As Manohar Chiluveru opens the door to his studio in Srinagar Colony, you can find finished and unfinished paintings lying around the room. And as he rushes to make space, he apologises for the state of his studio. “It’s been two days since I returned from Venice after my project, Kakatiya Marco Polo — Art Project and Possible Effects, so I didn’t get a chance to visit the studio,” he says.

Chiluveru moved to Hyderabad from Warangal in the middle of his BCom Final Year. Later, he joined JNTU for his BFA and it was during this time that he met a person who was working on the sets of a Telugu film Bhairava Dweepam. “I started doing small things like painting the sets etc. But, there was a point when I realised that if I wanted to keep doing this film and more, I would have to leave my studies, but thankfully I didn’t,” he says.

Later, when he was finishing his MFA from the University of Hyderabad, he “studied under Laxma Goud and that provided me with a lot of opportunity”.
Between 2004-2010, Chiluveru faced a lot of trouble. “That was a budding art scene in Hyderabad, There were a lot of camps, but no one invited me… I felt isolated. But it was then that I realised that this was my individual journey, and nobody else mattered.”

“My work didn’t get recognition in my own city, but people from abroad were interested in it. For example, during the time I was struggling, Peter Osborne Samuel, the art gallery owner in London, mailed me showing interest in my work. That was the greatest compliment. Apart from him, it was Rm. Palaniappan’s words that boosted my confidence. These incidents helped me to continue on my quest,” says Manohar, who has done two short-term curatorial programmes during his visit to London, after which he curated a show in London.

The Kakatiya Marco Polo — Art Project aims at making it easier for upcoming artists to make an entrance in the art scene through biennales and other important platforms. “The show will open in Hyderabad on September 15 and in Venice in November. I want to start with my works because it would be unfair to ask another artist to put up his works for auction. After the opening of this project, I will invite artists to join me for a major show next year,” he says.