It was in May 2013 that Kottayam earned yet another sobriquet as the ‘Mural City’ when the then Chief Minister Oommen Chandy declared the successful culmination of a month-long campaign of covering various public spots in the town with paintings.
Artists
Artists from various art schools in the country and some from aboard participated in the unique campaign, which elicited keen interest from the public.
However, four years down the line it appears that the municipal authorities themselves have decided to cover the paintings with white paint.
Modernisation
The gates of the Municipal Ground at Thirunakkara, which were covered with paintings, done in the style of traditional Kerala murals, are being whitewashed.
“It is part of the modernisation programme for the Thirunakkara Maidan,” said P.R. Sona, municipal chairperson.
According to her, the modernisation plan hopes to cover the gate in white and then get paintings done by students from art schools.
The Mural City campaign was taken up by the Kerala Lalithakala Akademi which brought nearly 300 artists to the town for one month.
The team identified 21 spots in the town, all public places. These included the Kottayam railway station, the Collectorate, Thirunakkara Sreemahadevar temple, some of the churches, gates of public places including that of the municipal ground.
The Mural City campaign was initiated as part of expanding the tourism attractions in the town which was just half an hour from Kumarakom, a major tourism destination.
Threats of defacement
One of the major fears of the artists was that these works would be defaced by miscreants.
Another fear that the officials had was whether the political parties would fix their posters over these paintings.
Elections
However, these paintings miraculously escaped three major elections that followed. Politicians have so far shown deserving respect to these paintings that are done in public places.
It is against this background that the municipality, which has many firsts to its credit, has come up with another first in art restoration: first paint the paintings white and then redraw them.