Photo Exhibition

Yesterday, I visited an exhibition titled, 'Hues and Barks' by photographer composer,  Udaybhanu, at the Lalithakala Academy gallery, Vylopilli Bhavan. Thiruvananthapuram.

The show, described as An Abstra-Photo Exhibition, is sub - titled ' An attempt to make a lightning before the  thunderous axe falls'.

One would have thought that seeing 25 to 30 closeups of tree barks would have been boring.  However, Udayabhanu's images were technically perfect,eye catching, with some amount of intrigue. One could play games with one's own interpretations. Inconspicuous captions on the side of the frames gave the photographer's perspective.
Above all, what came through  was the photographer's deep love for nature.

Recommended for all lovers of nature,  art and photography.

This is an international  tour with halts in the Gulf,  Calicut, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Trivandrum.  The show is on till 27th at Vylopilli.

His website : www.huemenstudio.com

Honey and Mango Festival at Kanakakunnu

Kanakakunnu is usually a beehive of activities. This time, however, there were real beehives as part of the Honey and Mango festival. A great initiative and generally well organised. The entry fee was a nominal Rs.10. However, there were the usual problems of parking, poor layout etc. The crowd was manageable on Saturday morning. Wonder what it would have been in the evening.

It was great opportunity to see, pick, taste and choose many varieties of mangoes and honey.
Next time the organisers should think of better layout and parking facilities. (or should there there be offsite parking with pick up facilities?)
Another dangerous practice was workers carrying heavy crates of mangoes through crowds of visitors. Couldn't they have separate access for loading and unloading? 

Jackfruit Mela in Thiruvananthapuram

Tagore Exhibition on Wheels

The Indian Railways, dedicated a whole rake of air conditioned coaches to showcase the life and works of Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th Anniversary. The rake went from station to station all over India and was in Trivandrum in the second week of October.

Visitors viewing the Tagore exhibition on rails at Trivandrum Central Station, Platform #1.

Liminal Space - a bronze work by KS Radhakrishnan

KS Radhakrishnan, the renowned artist, exhibited his magnum opus in bronze, 'Liminal space' at the Kanakakunnu palace, Trivandrum. Though this was smaller than the exhibits at Mumbai and Kolkata, it did not fail to impress. For Radhakrishnan, who spent his early days at Shantiniketan, the muse is the Santhal couple, Musui and Maiya who appear in all his works in various sizes and shapes. More details at: http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/art/article407754.ece
and
http://ksradhakrishnan.com/images/Liminal_Figures_catalogue.pdf

Kerala Artisans' Development Corporation, Craft Mela at VJT Hall

Simultaneously there are three craft exhibitions going on in Thiuvananthapuram this week. I had already reported about the Gandhi Shilp Bazaar at Kanakakunnu. The other one is the Kerala Artisans' Development Corporatio's Craft Mela at the VJT Hall.

Bangles in Boxes                                                                                                            Bangles on stand

Tribal art from Orissa - ceramic on canvas

 Orissa art - applique

Craft Exhibition

Collage of some exhibits at the Gandhi Shilp Exhibition at the Kanakunnu palace grounds.

Natural bird nests for sale

This is Kuttappan at his stall selling bamboo products.- bamboo ek tara, bamboo drums, lampshdes, wine mugs, penstands etc. Kuttappan comes from Ramakkalmedu in Idukky district. Legend has it that Lord Rama halted at Ramakkal medu in search of Sita as this place overlooks a vast valley and some towns of Tamil Nadu.

The Trivandrum Flower Show

The Trivandrum Flower show is on as in every year at the observatory hills opposite Kanakakunnu Palace. If you want to beat the crowd, the best time is at 10 a.m when it opens.