Celebrating our expatriates

Morning walkers at the Museum Compound stop to look at the new exhibits slowly spreading on the side. Visitors at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation office are surprised to see a boat installation, looking half buried in the ground, a man apparently dead on a swing, hanging from the boat. There are more such artworks rising in different locations across the capital — the Niyamasabha Mandiram (Legislative Assembly), the Public Office Complex, the Fine Arts College, Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, and so on. The answer to where it all comes from is with Pramod Payannur, secretary of Bharat Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram.

“It all begins with an idea of bringing together Malayalis from outside the state and those inside, together,” says Pramod, sitting at his office, answering many calls and making last-minute arrangements before the big event. The two-day long Loka Kerala Sabha — a gathering of Pravasi Malayalis — is beginning today with a lot of excitement and expectation. Representatives of 351 Malayali associations from across the world will join. The Chief Minister will be the Chairman, Leader of Opposition will be the Deputy Chairman. And as the cultural institute of the government, Bharat Bhavan is taking care of the cultural part of the event in a big way — with a mega show involving 240 artistes, another dance show including eight forms, and a miniature version of the Biennale with art installations scattered across eight venues.One of the biggest highlights is the art installation that is being put together by the veteran artist Kanayi Kunhiraman on the theme of adima pravasam (early migration).

“It will be 12 feet fall, with three doors. There will be a big book in front of each door, three Deshadana pakshis (migratory birds), flying, as a symbol of pravasi life. Inside there will be squares, with parrots for fortune telling and the cards they pick out will be in different languages. There will also be some construction work. All of it is done in fibre glass. The last major art installation I have done is in 1979,” Kanayi says, before he sets to begin his work outside the Niyamasabha.

“There will be two more installations at the Niyamasabha,” Pramod says. “A globe to be signed by the CM and representatives of different Malayali associations. And an eight feet candle as a tribute to the victims of Ockhi. It will have the words of writer Prabha Varma at the bottom, shaped as the sea.” The Fine Arts College will follow with students and alumni doing a graffiti art on the wall, leading all the way to the Corporation, on the theme of travel. The Corporation and the Public Office Complex have two art installations based on poems by writer-actor Joy Mathew. “Both are pravasi poems. We call it poems of exile. The one at the Corporation is based on his poem Deira, a city in Dubai, where Malayalis have succeeded and failed. The man hanging from the boat is trapped in his passport. The other at the Public Office is based on his poem Abra,” says Vinayan one of the artists behind the work. They are a team from Kochi, he says, doing poetry installations. With him are Vinod Krishna, the director of the work, and Dhanya. They did the design and the actual installation was done by artist Linu. The poems will be played in Joy Mathew’s voice.
Co-founder of the Kochi Biennale, Riyas Komu’s work will also rise, at Kanakakunnu, with the words Enna Pone (When are you going back), a question most often asked to the NRIs who visit home. “That is not just a question others ask, but you ask yourself. Along with the art work is a text that explains it,” Riyas says. There is a work by musician Sunil too here. At the Tourism compound, visitors can take selfies before installations of passports of the six countries where most Indians migrate to. The museum and zoo compound will have exhibitions of Ravi Varma paintings, and of Archives and Archeology departments.

The mega show on the final day, directed by Pramod, is a mix of music and dance and skit with visual aid and narration. “Bhagyalakshmi will do the voice over, 100 people will sing with live orchestra, there will be choreography by different dance groups. After every three performances to songs with pravasi themes, there will be skits,” Pramod says. There is also a show today, called Drishyashtakam, featuring eight art forms from eight parts of the state, linked by Jayaraj Warrier, mimicking famous personalities from each of these parts.