Who said Pallava sculptures are only religious icons? Exhibition in Chennai to explore their secular side

CHENNAI: Commissioner of archaeology D Jagannathan will inaugurate the second edition of Friends of Heritage Sites’ (FoHS) sculpture show “Vichitrachitta 2018” at Art Houz here on March 16. Art historian and critic Ashrafi S Bhagat will talk on “Importance and significance of Pallava art and architecture” after the launch of the exhibition.
At least 16 miniature and garden style sculptures made during the workshops conducted by FoHS will be displayed. “We have 16 sculptures that are in the nature of garden and drawing room arte facts. The focus is on miniature versions of the Pallava art form and we trust this will get the art closer to people,” said Sharmila Genesan of the FoHS.

Besides heritage tours and awareness programmes, the FoHS has been conducting workshops based on Pallava masterpieces since its launch in 2015. Sculptors and students of Mamallapuram had participated in the four workshops on Pallava masterpieces conducted by the FoHS in the last four years.

The idea was to revisit the glory of the tradition of Pallava art. “The project was conceived with several objectives in mind. Since the sculptors in Mamallapuram generally produce religious icons that are guided by strict iconographic rules, we hoped that by recreating the Pallava images, especially those of a secular nature, the sculptors will understand a new fluidity of form and proportion,” she said, adding that “another aim of this project was to help sculptors access the untapped tourist market for Pallava mementos.”

In 2015, the participants of the workshop created six miniature works based on six original sculptures in Mamallapuram. The project evoked tremendous enthusiasm among art lovers. “All the six sculptures were sold out in minutes at our first exhibition held in 2015. This happened mainly because the sculptor community in Mamallapuram could relook at the traditional sculptures around them with a new perspective. The workshops were a great success,” she said.

The FoHS helped the sculptors with fresh tips from experts during the workshops. “We felt that these sculptures could also fit into a modern drawing room space. The sculptors were basically trained in using granite stone. With the help of experts, we could train them making sculptures using soapstone (a soft rock consisting largely of talc), wood and other soft stones,” she said.

“With the rising demand for miniature arte facts, the sculptors were trained in expressing miniature versions of the Pallava art form using these alternate stone medium,” she added.

The exhibition is open to public on March 17 and 18 from 10am to 5pm.