CHENNAI: Sixty three-year-old Krishnaswami from Uthukuzhi village, 60km from Coimbatore, has never stepped inside a
mall, but the traditional ozhai kizhi (garland) maker’s work precedes him. Around 4,000 of his handmade palmyra
leaf birds now make up the impressive chandelier-like art installation at
Phoenix Market City in Velachery.
The striking bright pink birds hanging from the 10ftx30ft installation, make it hard to imagine that the simple
craft and a child’s play of growing up years could be presented with a contemporary aesthetic.
A skill not quite in demand in his village as well, Krishnaswami is the lone man making temple decorations with palmyra leaves, a craft he picked up around 30 years ago from a neighbour. “Nobody wants to learn making these small items because demand is erratic, it is either from the temple or when villagers celebrate an auspicious occasion. Sometimes I teach school students and take their help for big orders, but no one wants to stick to it. There is also the problem of trees being chopped. I am worried how long I can continue,” he says. It was after he was engaged by Craft Council of India and later by event designer Malini Narasimhan that a steady income came in.
But in the face of change, the man strongly holds on to his designs. “Krishnaswami was not open to any modern adaptations, so we worked around it and came up with an idea that would blend tradition and modernity,” says Malini Narasimhan, who worked with 42 artisans to create three art installations at the mall that have more than 10,000 birds and blossoms made of palmyra leaves and sholapith. Working with artisans for more than two decades, she is known to add a hint of traditional crafts in weddings and décor.
The installations, part of the spring-summer
decor at the mall will be up for three months and is a first large work of Narasimhan in a public space. “We did not approach it with the idea of having artisans. It is part of the larger art, design, cultural umbrella that represents creativity and coming together of beauty,” says Vijay Choraria, MD of the mall, who tied up with curator and art historian Annapurna Garimella. A workshop on ozhai craft will also be hosted at the mall from April 20 to 23, where participants can get to learn get a hands-on experience on how to make flowers, fish, birds and deer, from palmyra leaves.
