A Peep Into The Past

At Sivasankaran’s recent exhibition, he has deftly captured life in Kerala hundreds of years ago

By Shevlin Sebastian

At the Ethnic Passage Art Gallery in Mattancherry, Daina Ulmyte, a 25-year old theatre director from Lithuania stood transfixed in front of a large painting at artist Sivasankaran's recent exhibition, 'Once Upon A Time in Muziris'. After a while, she stepped back and says, “In Europe these days, abstract art is very popular. So I am enjoying some realistic art for a change. I like this work by Sivasankaran. The details are so finely etched.”

The work in question is set in the Muziris area. The timeline: 650 years ago, during the time of Portuguese rule in Kerala. So, there is a tranquil-looking river with small boats plying on it. At a distance, a ship is anchored. On the opposite bank, there is a white church with a steeple. On the bank nearer to the viewer, at one side, a man and a woman are looking deep into each other's eyes. Right in the middle of the image, there is a cement structure that is jutting out from the bank.

“This was made to protect the bank,” says Sivasankaran. “During the rainy season the water would hit the sides with great force and it would disintegrate. So this was made to prevent that.”

What is striking about the work is the alluring sepia tone. Sivasankaran got the colour by mixing brown, black and a little bit of blue. “I used this to give a feeling of something being old,” he says.

Asked why he has focused on Muziris, Sivasankaran says, “I have spent all my life in the area. I remember how, in my childhood, during the rainy season, the water would overrun the banks and enter our houses. And when we would go for classes we would discover that school was closed, because water had entered the classrooms, too.”

In another image, Sivasankaran shows wooden ships, with large sails, as it makes its way to the famous Muziris port. According to history, the port was devastated by a flood in the 14th century. Thereafter, Muziris rapidly declined in importance.

Sivasankaran's aim was to recreate life in Kerala from way back in the past. He used photos from the Internet, consulted history books and studied drawings. But he has also focused on other areas.

For example, he has done a black and white painting of the Marine Drive in Kochi. Today, there are numerous shops, restaurants, office and residential buildings, and the streets are choked with people and traffic – buses, cars, auto-rickshaws and two-wheelers.

But one hundred years ago, it was a serene place. A deserted road, with trees on one and the sea on the other, with a few people walking casually about. “Times have changed,” says the 56-year artist, with a rueful smile. “Development has come. The population has grown.”

At another section, Sivasankaran has brought up a forgotten chapter of Kerala history: the hated 'breast tax'. In the painting, four dark-skinned women stand next to each other wearing white sarees, with thick gold earrings and necklaces and holding a gold plate which contained smaller utensils. What was astonishing to see was the exposed breasts.

“I wanted to highlight the period when women would expose their breasts all the time,” says Sivasankaran. Around 300 years ago, women who belonged to the backward classes and the Dalits had to pay the breast tax, if they wanted to cover their breasts with a piece of cloth.

All the paintings have interesting tales behind it. In his skillful but simple way, Sivasankaran has deftly captured the history of Kerala.