Fort Kochi-based Dravidia Art Gallery reopens with a group show

Having remained an active participant in Fort Kochi’s contemporary art scene over the last two decades, Shihab TM launched the gallery in the 90s
Dravidia
Dravidia

As a young art promoter roaming the streets of Kochi back in the 90s, Shihab T M remembers the 
city differently. “Despite making offers of free art exhibitions within cafes and hotels, my friends and I were met with reactionary responses back then,” recalls the poet turned art promoter. Having remained an active participant in Fort Kochi’s contemporary scene over the last two decades, Shihab launched Dravidia Art Gallery in 1997 and it went on to become one of first multi-disciplinary performance spaces in Kerala.
With more than 100 art and cultural show curations to his credit—which included luminaries such as Chilean director Elias Cohen—this poet took a break in 2012 to retreat into the hills of Kanthalloor. “As I watch the gallery boom that’s happening in the city now, I am astounded,” shares Shihab, who co-curated 
the ongoing show Kalaayanam alongside artist Ganesh Babu Chembayil and sculptor N V Shanthan. A collective project featuring over 60 multimedia works by luminaries like Bara Bhaskaran, the event is an open-ended one which refuses to be limited by one specific theme.

Tracing the legacy
Boasting of a display space that’s well over 8,000 sq ft—Dravidia shares its space with Farmers Café, a continental eatery by entrepreneur Umar Farooq. “I have previously worked with Umer on several such projects including now defunct Solar Café, which exhibited poetry on the walls,” shares Shihab, the first Malayali to launch a bilingual poetry collection, titled Forest in My Heart. Elaborating further on the 
legacy of the space, the nature enthusiast cites names of prominent artists from the city including Jyothi Basu and Alex Mathew who made their Kochi debuted through Dravidia. “The ’90s saw a lot of our artists migrating to different parts of the world. Most of them were educated in prestigious institutions like Baroda’s MS University but lacked a platform to engage with people when they returned home. What we started back in those days has now grown into a movement,” says Shihab, adding that he will be concentrating on curating multidisciplinary projects in the coming months.

At Ridsdale Street.
Details: 9496454761

 

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