The Kerala Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery at Mananchira here has been a favourite hangout for artists and art lovers for decades. It was not just art that held them together. It offered a venue for discussions about literature, culture, and politics.
Needless to say, when the facility was closed down by the end of March owing to the pandemic outbreak and subsequent lockdown, the intellectual community suffered.
Hence, when it was reopened eight months down the line, news spread fast. Though not as active as before, the art street near the gallery is once again alive, and ‘Hadikka’, the first exhibition at the gallery post-lockdown, has turned out to be quite a crowd-puller.
Hadikka is an exhibition of around 30 paintings by Wayanad-based artist Ramesh M.R. He is known for his unique style of work mixing line drawing and painting in equal measure. Mr. Ramesh is also famous for his choice of themes, which are always related to the tribal communities of Wayanad.
Hadikka stands for a unique system for curing diseases, and it is practised by the Kattunaikka community. In the exhibition, Mr. Ramesh has featured the lifestyle, culture, and rituals of tribal communities in Wayanad in their primitive forms.
The exhibition features paintings depicting tribal people as hunter-gatherers, their association with nature, their deities, unique rituals, agriculture, and so on. The event was opened on Saturday by artist K. Sudheesh Kumar. It will conclude on November 28.
Though no other exhibition has been scheduled to be held at the art gallery any time soon, the facility will be open for the public. In keeping with the COVID-19 protocol, the gallery timing has been changed to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and holidays and Sundays.