Lacquer artist from Odisha raises funds for Kerala

BENGALURU: One of the few lacquer artists in the world, Kesu Das is exhibiting his work at a group show Purbaee. All seven artists from Odisha who are exhibiting at the show are supporting the flood relief programmes in Kerala. About 40 per cent of the fund collected will be contributed to rebuild flood-hit Kerala.

Perhaps the only lacquer (Jaukandhei in Odia) artist in India, Keshu, a native of Dublagadi in Odisha, uses the event to create awareness about this ancient art of Odisha and conservation of rare aquatic animals.
In one of his painting series, Fossilac, he focuses on an endangered aquatic creature called Horrseshoe Crab. These are referred to as living fossils. He says, “People need to be aware of this rare species that’s 450 million years old. Of late, there has been a growing interest in the bio economic research and conservation of the species.”.

He says he learnt the conventional Lacquer painting techniques, so he could reinvent this craft using his own techniques and styles. “I wanted to bring this ancient art to the contemporary scene. Over the first few years of experimentation, I also learnt that the combination of the nontoxic natural pigments/dye and lacquer can be used on different surfaces, by using the hot and cold process.” He started working with the medium in 2007 and explored it more while doing his fellowship in 2015. “I researched and studied about the medium and presented a paper of about 300 pages on it,” he shares.

The 53-year-old calls himself an art activist and is striving to preserve the folk art, and revive an annual festival called lacquer toy marriage. The artist’s approach to a subject is made thorough by first knowing about its history and culture. “If I am working on fishermen, I’d rather be at the coast and work with them. I work like an activist, using art as a medium for activism,” he says.

“I inspired writers and play actors to work on this culture, in their respective fields. Jaukandhei has become a character/symbol of culture in Baleshwar. Women started worshping Jaukandhei on the occasion of Savitri Brata, an old tradition that was long forgotten. I also work towards revival of ‘Jaukandhei Bahaghara’, the marriage between two lacquer dolls,” he adds.

Keshu has always been interested in art. Apart from lac paintings, he also does cartoons, illustrations, book covers and travel painting. The exhibition is on till August 31 at Art Houz, Vasanth Nagar.