Niracharthu: A village community in Kerala gets ready to groom new gen artistes

Kochi, Dec 19
The seventh edition of the Ni Fest - Niracharthu, founded in 2014 by the village community with the objectives of reviving artistic spirits of the village people, grooming next generation artists, and building the culture of art appreciation among common men, is all set to go live from Wednesday.

Ni Fest is dedicated to the fond memories of art historian and author, late Vijayakumar Menon who was mentor and guru of Niracharthu.

The now annual national art camp and village art fest organised by Niracharthu Art and Cultural Society, will be held from Wednesday to Sunday at Enkakad village near Wadakkanchery, 21 kms from Thrissur- incidentally referred to as the cultural capital of Kerala.

The national camp, curated by artist S.N. Sujith, will have 20 artists from across the country, including Aji V.N., Anjaneyulu Gundu, P.S. Jalaja, Jyothi Basu among others.

Niracharthu camps are structured on open avenues in the village, with artists getting the opportunity to choose their place of work anywhere in and around the hamlet.

Further, artists are accommodated in the houses within the village, thus providing them an opportunity to have the touch and feel of the village's local culture and hospitality.

The five day camp is associated with village art festival with folk and classical art performances that lights up the evenings.

Budding Fine Arts students of Raja Ravi Varma College, Mavelikkara, are conducting a print exhibition, based on the theme, "Indian architecture".

These programmes are planned at three different venues within the village.

The camp sites vary depending on the location preferences of artists and thus the whole village becomes, sort of a canvas.

Over the years Niracharthu has so far touched many chords with varied sections of society and is primarily funded through revenue from sale of paintings to well-wishers and collectors around the globe.

The society runs a gift coupon programme where camp paintings are awarded as gifts. Anyone can buy Rs 200 worth of coupons and participate in the programme.

Through this scheme, yearly, 10 works of eminent artists reach homes of locals, who may not otherwise be able to own them.