Cholamandal Artists' Village, established in 1966, is the largest artists' commune in India, whose artists are credited for the Madras Movement of Art (1950s–1980s), which brought
modernism to art in the
South India. Their work is widely recognized as some of the best art produced in postwar India, and is shown regularly in galleries across the country; in fact several Cholamandal artists have also shown in Europe, the United States and South America.
Situated at village
Injambakkam, 9 km from
Chennai,
India, it has over twenty resident painters and sculptors, who live as a community and pool their skills; they also run the Artists Handicrafts Association, a cooperative which manages the village and sale of works through the permanent exhibition at the complex, which includes paintings, sketches, terra-cotta/stone/metal sculptures, batiks and handicrafts etc., made by the artists living the village, making the village a self-supporting entity
.
The community was founded by
K. C. S. Paniker, the principal of the
Madras School of Arts, along with his students and a few artists associated with the college. It used the `art-meets-craft' approach where artists made handicrafts for a living even as they pursued their art. By 1970s, the village became self-sufficient, and grew into one of the most important meeting places for international artists in India, and today, it remains one of the few artist-driven movements that India. Four decades on, it is one of the few artists' colonies in the world to survive successfully and its foundation remains one of the "10 biggest art moments" in India.
History
Most of the original founding creative artists, painters and sculptors were students and artists associated with the
Government School of Arts and Crafts, Chennai (Madras School of Arts), where
K.C.S. Paniker, noted metaphysical and abstract painter, was principal 1957 to 1967. These artists desired to form a congenial space for practising their art; thirty eight of them got together and formed the 'Artists Handicrafts Association' (AHA) in 1963 initially to sell the works of artists.
Gradually the artists started working together, producing handicrafts in their spare time, they were among the first in the country to produce
batik fabric, proceeds of their first batik exhibition went into buying the 8.5 acres (34,000 m
2) of land in 1966, which was to make up the village.
. By now K.C.S. Paniker had retired and founded the artists commune in April 1966. It was named after the
Chola dynasty, which is known to have encouraged arts and ruled the region, 9-13th century CE; called
Cholamandalam in
Tamil, which literally translated as
The realm of the Cholas,. Chola also lends its name to the
Coromandel Coast of
Bay of Bengal, which is few minutes of walk away from the village
. Another reason was the Paniker was "worried that his students might deviate from art due to financial compulsions"
.
In the same year six artists moved into live and work on their own land. In the 60s, while they could hardly sell their paintings, avant garde wood and leather work, batik, ceramics and metal craft made by them, found a good market, this sustained them for the duration, while the local buyers were familiarized to modernism, which their art represented.
Electricity was provided only in 1968 and till 1972 the mud road ended at Muttukadu. Then situated on a lonely, bumpy road, now known as the
East Coast Road highway to
Mahabalipuram, from
Adyar, and Chennai was still further away, though today due to rapid expansion, it is right at its door steps, and the road is busy with traffic and shops and commercial establishments. Over the years, built their houses, studios, exhibition gallery, theatre, workshop and kitchen, which they jointly owned along with all the infrastructure of the village. Apart from that it nurtured artists such as P.S. Nandan, Haridasan, S. Nanda Gopal, Vasudev, Gopinath, Senathipathy, M.V. Devan and Richard Jesudas. Soon they formed a cooperative to look after the viilage, also built a gallery, which displayed and sold their works; 20% of their sales went to their association ‘Cholamandal Artists Handicrafts Association’, which used the funds for the upkeep of the Village. In time the cooperative became self-sufficient and held exhibition of their work in major cities of India.
.
K.C.S. Paniker died in 1977, but by this time the village had become a self sufficient, without any government funding and the module had proven sustainable
. Over the years, work done by the artists at the village, initiated a period in south Indian art called the 'Madras Movement', which brought modernism to
south Indian art. Progressive Painters’ Association (P.P.A), one of the oldest art associations in India founded by Paniker in Chennai in 1944, after remaining inactive for many year after Paniker's death, the association was revived in 2006, and a new committee formed, it is now being carried forward by artists at the village
, and an annually elected general council of members administers Cholamandal. The village still continues to produce artists of great talent such as
S. Ravi Shankar, A. Selveraj and
Shailesh B.O. amongst many others.
Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art
During is last days Paniket had offered his oeuvre to the Madras government on the condition that a separate gallery be created for his work, when no response came from the government, eventually the Trivandrum Art Gallery took up the offer, an now houses an important collection of Paniker's work, but the artists at the village wanted a place for displaying all the works of Madras Movement at the place, thus idea of the art museum took place
.
The artists raised money from the private sector to found a museum within the village, which would house a permanent collection of artworks representative of the Madras Movement
. While the initial design was made by a visiting Dutch couple, the design for the art centre was made by architects
Sheila Sri Prakash of
Shilpa Architects and M. V. Devan, as project gathered momentum help came in from various artists and corporates alike. Finally after three and half years of construction the building was, and thus started a long search for works that exemplified the Madras Movement, which flourished between the early 50s and the 80s. Eventually about 60 per cent of the works were donated by senior artists and the rest were given on extended loan by art collectors around the country
.
The 'Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art' was opened at the village on Feb 1, 2009; it has a 'Museum of the Madras Movement', which display works of all prominent artist of the 'Madras Movement' apart from that of Paniker, including M. Senathipathi, Late
A.P. Santhanaraj,
P.S. Nandhan, S.G. Vasudev, K.V. Haridasan, Thotta Tharani, Sculptor S. Nandagopal. Apart from the museum and a gallery for Cholamadal artists, the centre has two commercial galleries, 'Labernum' and 'Indigo', that can be rented free of commission charge, an art book store, and a craft shop. Outside it is surrounded by tree-shaded sands which sport an international sculpture garden, displaying sculptures made by visiting artists from across India and the world through the decades
.
Facilities
Today, the village houses a number of art galleries, museums, and an open-air theatre on the site also houses dance and theatre performances
. The original Artists Handicrafts Association is still in charge of the colony, and Paniker's son, sculptor S. Nandagopal, is the Secretary of the Village. Out of the original forty artists, many are no more, and some have moved out, only twenty one remain today, and Cholamandal does not accept new members, though it has at least a dozen artists living or working there at any time in the year, plus many artists-in-residence are also at work here
.
The village is open daily from 10 am to 5pm. It is 10 minute walking distance from the Golden Beach. Local transport is now easily available and the Chennai International Airport the nearest airport, is 15 km away.
