Moulding artists for more than five decades

Serene location: Cholamandal artists village comprises a
centre for contemporary art and a commercial art gallery.

As you drive on East Coast Road, you will spot a signboard guiding you down a lane that opens up into a creative commune: Cholamandal artists village. Founded in 1966 by K.C.S. Paniker, the former principal of the Madras School of Arts (Government College of Fine Arts), and his students, it is spread over 10 acres. The campus includes a centre for contemporary art which hosts a museum for artists involved in the Madras art movement and commercial art gallery, open air theatre, Indigo & Labernum gallery for guest showcases, international sculpture park, as well as guest artists’ studios and the residences of 30 artists, with their own creative space, all once thatched huts.

A blessing for many

The name, Cholamandal, comes from the art and architecture of the Chola dynasty and the coromandel coast. P.S. Nandhan, an 86-year-old resident artist, calls it a blessing. “The whole idea here is let art lovers visit the artists, see our studios, and experience our work. Back in the day, many artists had to go door to door to sell their work; they eventually gave up art to find other jobs.”

The village is immersed in painting, sculpture, and graphic printmaking. Many works created by senior artists at Cholamandal have been displayed at museums in Paris, London, and Germany. “We have shown that an artist village can thrive, and that is the message we want to share with the upcoming artists and young creatives who wish to work on their own space with an artist community,” says P. Gopinath, president of Artists Handicraft Association.

Joining the conversation was a young architecture student from Kerala who travelled all the way to learn how to establish an artist village as part of her studies. Now, artists from all over the world can knock on the doors of these studios for a little creative advice. In one studio, M. Senathipathi was working on a Mahabharatha scene, immersing himself in the ‘pagal kanavu’ motif. A. Selvaraj was working on his paintings in another studio, while Mr. Nandhan’s studio is an abstract dream, each exploring his inner expression, seeing form, line, texture, and colour in his own ways.

More than a landmark

The next generation of artists grew up in the village, playing under the iconic banyan tree and watching their fathers’ works of art, eventually becoming a part of them. “Everywhere you look here, there is art, and the senior artists’ studios are institutions in themselves,” says G. Latha, resident artist and daughter of late artist K.S. Gopal. For S. Saravanan, Cholamandal is more than a landmark: it is a metaphor as he calls it “meditation”.

This generation of artists are thinking about Cholamandal’s future, reflecting on the knowledge under the roof of art, which they are open to share. They are working on plans for an art library to support the thousands of students who visit the village and invite anyone seeking the state of being tranquil. “Cholamandal is not only painting and sculpture. It is open for all kinds of performing arts. While people talk about women’s rights, social inclusion, environmental consciousness, and rural development, Cholamandal has been addressing these issues since the 1970s,” says resident artist Jacob Jebaraj. While the buildings make the landmark at many places, it’s the artists themselves who truly define this landmark.