Scripting a visual ode to the canals

KOCHI: There are many stories associated with the stagnant, murky canals of Fort Kochi and Mattanchery. At one point of time, they used to be clean and clear and some canals like Kalvethy were the hub of trade when the Portuguese first arrived in Kochi. But now they have become a filthy spectacle filled with all kinds of trash, including plastic bottles, used diapers and thermocol plates.

Vipin Dhanurdharan, an artist who has been working with the Kochi Biennale Foundation, believes that through his works he has unexpectedly and unintentionally travelled in and around the streets of Kochi. The streets, which are inter-connected, take you to the same point from where you started your journey. During these journeys, you will surely come across a canal, which is an attack on the senses. But you often cross it without hesitation because you have become accustomed to it.

This self-taught artist’s recent work titled ‘Petrichor’ is an archive of an act that he performed over the last two months, which is being screened at Lulu mall. The word ‘Petrichor’ means smell of the earth and this has been rightly incorporated in the video art by Vipin. He has recorded the stagnant canals of Fort Kochi and Mattanchery.    This is a 36-minute video inspired by a work that he did in August last year in Uru Gallery in the exhibition titled ‘Mattancherry’.

“For the past six years, I have been staying in Fort Kochi,” he tells Express. “During my stay, I have come across many people and have been to many places here. From the beginning, the nature of my work has been documenting people and places and it involves documenting the canals as many people stay beside it. My daily activity was collecting water from different canals and storing it in drums. This is romanticising Fort Kochi and the condition of people who have been staying here for many years.”

This work began after conversations with local people who shared their memories of the canals which were once so clear that one could see the fish at the bottom, how the people used to practice swimming in these canals and how a present ground used to be a pond. All these have been documented in this video art about Mattanchery. In this two-week show which will conclude on April 8, Vipin will be making posters on his work table set beside the exhibit. A few posters have also been exhibited which people can take home after the show.