KOCHI: Kajal Deth lives to make and observe art. Everything she thinks and does is centred around it. Her photography, videos and paintings discuss the socio-political system around her. She strives to tell the lesser-known stories of the people who get lost in the race towards development. She uses all the mediums familiar to her for this. “Art can connect everyone,” says Kajal. And that is her endeavour in life — connecting souls through art, especially the young generation.
Her works exhibited at Lokame Tharavadu contemporary art exhibition is multi-disciplinary. “Parts of my two photography series are displayed here. Four photographs are from the series Coir and Life and three are based on the 2018 deluge and how it affected the people of Kuttanad,” says the artist. She travels on her Royal Enfield bike — a treasured possession — in search of inspirations and stories.
“Photography is the revolt against memories lost in oblivion,” says Kajal on her favourite medium. Of painting, writing and photography, the latter is the one she feels closest to. Her lens reaches out to familiar places to record the lives around her. Lives destroyed by society’s quest for development. From the 2018 deluge to the lives of coir labourers, her eyes reach everywhere recording it permanently.
The deluge
“In Kuttanad and many parts of Alappuzha, unscientific development projects, including bunds and roads have been causing constant floods. Just a few hours of heavy rain is enough to create flooding,” says Kajal. In one of her frames, a woman is staring at the overflowing waterbody from the bank. She could have lost her home, or she is pondering upon the future of her friends and family. A house surrounded by floodwater fills another frame.
The coir connection
One of her frames shows a woman holding multiple coir pieces. It’s the first time, Kajal is exhibiting this particular work. The artist has a personal connection to the coir industry. “There was a time in Alappuzha when the mornings resonated the sound of coconut shells being beaten. Countless people were employed in the sector. My great-great-grandfather, my father — all are part of the traditional coir industry. My great-great-grandfather established a coir export business. My father is now working there. I used to work there as a designer before becoming a full-time artist,” says Kajal.
The video displayed at the exhibition shows the traditional coir making practice. “Man and machine become one there. A worker has to work with the primitive model to spin the coir. Now, the technology has evolved and this method will soon become extinct,” she says. Along with the video, Kajal has also displayed seven photographs, 13 watercolour paintings and four acrylic and mixed-media paintings at the exhibition.
The beginning
Kaja started her art career drawing on notebooks and walls. “I used to love crafts. Teachers in my school used to encourage me to make art on walls. I always wanted a life that is close to art and dedicated to it,” says Kajal.
After her graduation, she decided to chase her dream. As a first step, she decided to study fine arts.
Though she is a full-time painter, Kajal loves photography equally. “I am not an expert in the field. But I feel like photography expresses everything I want to say, the lives I want to show,” says Kajal.
She also runs an outreach programme called Art Every Moment. She conducts workshops for school children on arts and crafts, teaching them everything from painting to kite making.
Sketching a new venture
Kajal suffered due to the lack of quality sketchbooks during the lockdown days. So, she took matters into her own hands and started her own sketchbook unit, with women workers in Alappuzha, called Nomadic. The books are available at the exhibition venue.