Latest news with #CollegeofFineArts
The Hindu
3 days ago
- General
- The Hindu
KCP to hold intercollegiate painting competition on Aug 14
The College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru, is organising an intercollegiate painting competition as part of the Independence Day celebrations. The event aims to promote and celebrate 'Indian Heritage and Culture,' which is the central theme of the competition. The competition is open to students from State PUC, ICSE, and CBSE streams across Karnataka. The competition will be held on August 14 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Interested students must register on or before August 13. For further details or to register, participants can visit the official website or reach out via email at principal@
Time of India
02-08-2025
- General
- Time of India
Canvas of unrest
Artist Rahul Buski turns resistance, memory and identity into powerful visual expression When a young artist like Rahul Buski creates paintings that deeply resonate with the Adivasi community's enduring struggles in Kerala, it is not coincidental but strictly personal and profoundly political. An Adivasi from Wayanad, Rahul's creative vision is rooted in stories of resistance and oppression that he heard growing up—especially from his father, Ramesh, one of the key leaders of the Muthanga land agitation. These formative experiences have deeply informed Buski's artistic journey, lending his work a rare urgency and authenticity. Now an MFA graduate from the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, 27-year-old Buski's work focuses on documenting and interpreting traditional Adivasi art forms. His paintings uncover multi-layered meanings and cultural contexts, exploring how these practices can become powerful tools of resistance and renewal. When I paint, I use my body as a brush—often without even realizing it. Every stroke carries emotion and memory,' says Buski. 'While working on paintings about land struggles, I could feel the pressure building in my arms. I incorporate land, identity, and indigenous struggles in my artistic practice.' His paintings are not just about visual expression—they are extensions of his lived experience as an indigenous artist. 'My creative journey arises from the intergenerational realities of land alienation, cultural marginalization and ecological disconnection—conditions historically imposed upon Adivasi communities in Kerala,' he says. A striking feature of Buski's work is his use of the stroke—not just as a technique, but as a symbolic and political gesture. 'I employ a wide range of strokes—short, long, structured, chaotic, cross-hatched—depending on the emotional resonance of the subject. These strokes are not merely aesthetic marks but performative acts that construct meaning through rhythm, pressure and repetition. They give form to the fragmented histories, anxieties and resilience of my people.' He draws inspiration from the daily life of Adivasi communities—their rituals, resistance and cultural expressions. Several of his paintings engage with key events such as the Muthanga struggle, Chengara land agitation, Aralam protest and Nilpu Samaram. 'Such works not merely represent protest but participate in it,' he says. 'The aim of my art is to raise awareness, build empathy and provoke dialogue around civil rights, ecological justice, caste-based oppression and indigenous autonomy.' Artists like Buski do more than create—they intervene. Their lives and work are intertwined with the world they seek to change. Art, for them, is not a detached medium; it is the most potent language of protest. 'My art stands as a multi-layered testimony—a visual archive of ancestral memory, a record of present resistance and a vision for future justice. It arises from protest, from silence, from survival, from hope,' he reflects. 'It seeks to affirm the dignity of indigenous life, reclaim suppressed narratives, and envision a world where our land, voices and stories are not just seen—but truly recognized.' Any serious conversation around Adivasi communities remains incomplete without addressing their relationship with the environment—a connection at the heart of Buski's practice. His work captures the tense interplay between humans and nature, particularly in a state like Kerala where development often comes at the cost of forest lands and tribal homes. Among his paintings, Eucaly stands out—a vivid, layered work that portrays the ecological and emotional consequences of forced displacement. It speaks not only of loss but also of protest and deep-rooted connection to the land. Another compelling work is Thalum, Thakarayum, Ratti, which explores themes of displacement, identity, and resistance through the use of earthy tones and expressive figures. It vividly portrays the deep, ancestral connection between tribal communities and nature — a recurring thread in Buski's visual language. Akhiljith, lecturer in painting at the College of Fine Arts and a close observer of Buski's work, sees a deep, organic link between the artist's past and present. 'When the Muthanga struggle happened, Buski was a child. All his images are rooted in his community and childhood experiences. His images stand in opposition to elite visual culture. He uses black drawings and bright colours to communicate. His work is a visual translation of the issues faced by his community. Images of people without legs and heads symbolize resistance.' His paintings are currently on display at the MFA degree show '25, titled Rooms Without Walls, at the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram. The exhibition is open until Sunday. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
The Hindu
31-07-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Room Without Walls by students of CFA in Thiruvananthapuram is a coherent display of diverse identities
At Room Without Walls, an art exhibition by the outgoing batch of Master of Fine Arts (MFA) course of the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, oil paintings by Vishnu Chandran R transform canvases into shelves (and not the organised kind). There is a looming sense of chaos in finding a floor cleaner, talcum powder and an alarm clock on the same mantel — an air of entropy further fostered by old, dull walls smudged with betel leaf stains. Each element reveals something new about the owner. Memories and the Objects We Keep by Vishnu aptly sums up the art showcase by the 14 artists at the exhibition — each installation and its nuances are a slice of their story, harmoniously brought together. The works are by Adithya S Kumar, Amal Jith OJ, Amal Lal Puthukkudi, Athul KP, Chandan Gour, Jinto Bijo, Nithin Das MV, Rahul Buski, Rahul PP, Rajaneesh KK, Sabhin SS, Sandra Thomas, Shajith RB and Vishnu. The week-long exhibition, which began on July 25, explore the idea of socio-political structures and spaces through body politics, caste, ecology, individualism and so on. Sabhin, 'a Dalit-Christian artist', sees his work as 'a combination of art and activism'. His installation combines raw materials sourced from his hometown, Neyyattinkara, with multimedia elements made from archival footage on Dalit Christians. Set in two dark rooms, Sabhin reconstructs the building blocks of his identity, such as surroundings, occupation and so on, among others; government documents on display point out the labels thrust on him at birth. Rubber, in its unprocessed form, acts as a leitmotif, shedding light on the generational occupation. 'My work is part of a documentation, be it a painting or a video or an installation, it is about visually representing a particular memory,' says Sabhin. Rahul Buski puts his tribal identity on display, born out of cultural memory, social struggle, and reality. His works deal with the Muthanga protests, which happened in Wayanad in the early 2000s against the delay in land allotments to the Adivasis. Rahul documents the incident and places it in a larger context of caste discrimination. While the paintings display the community's experiences, the interspersed photographs reveal how the public construed the matter. Sandra and Chandan showcase a variety of techniques in their sculptures, utilising different media and themes to set up their installations. The life-size installations made of newspapers by Sandra on people in their mundane roles are a result of the pandemic, when she was looking for raw materials at her home. 'Earlier, it was just a set of objectives I interacted with in my daily life; then I shifted it to people,' she says. Her sculptures were created with moulds shaped with the help of her acquaintances. It is strengthened with paper pulp, sawdust and paper glue. 'The layers of newspapers are treated as layers of skin,' says Sandra, who sees sculpting as a way to recreate people physically with the help of a mould. Also read: Art flourishes here despite odds Chandan from Jaipur, Rajasthan, attempts to look beyond the physical body and represents it as a moving compilation of experiences, memories and inner struggles. His sculptures comprise fibreglass, form and terracotta. His work, Broken but Safe, is a portrayal of a universal struggle in an unstoppable world. Migration by Nithin observes the paradox of stagnation and movement through the lens of migration, about people cursed to run in circles, without moving forward. Displaying a unique structural language, his installations are distorted reproductions of the world, filled with unapologetically 'crude or vulgar' imagery, cautiously placed. Three-time Kerala Lalithakala Akademi award winner, Shajith, part of this MFA batch, has displayed works from Wiping Out, a series of oil, watercolour and acrylic paintings, about different signs of ecological degradation observed in his hometown Kannur through the appearance of fauna such as a peacock, which appears in one of the works. 'I specifically look at Malabar for its distinct ecosystem and architecture, which I bring to my work,' says Shajith. The paintings with long, rough brush strokes were made by the artist by attaching the paintbrush to the end of a stick. 'This adds to the performative nature of my art, as I am a theatre artist as well. For me, it is a performance when I paint and another performance when I display the finished painting.' Room Without Walls is on at College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, till August 3. Time: 10am to 8pm
New Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Students at T'Puram College of Fine Arts announce their arrival in style
The smell of paint, clay, and fresh ideas fills the corridors of the College of Fine Arts in Thiruvananthapuram. The collective creative energy has spilt into the gallery for that final, grand showcase. This year's Degree Show is proceeding as final year students display all they have learnt throughout their course. This year's event is especially significant as it is the golden jubilee year of the college. Over 40 students from the painting, sculpture, and applied arts departments are presenting their work. 'What we have done in the last four years, what we studied and explored, all of that is here in the gallery,' says Avinash C S, one of the student coordinators. 'We come from different parts of Kerala, but for the past four years, Thiruvananthapuram has been our second home. The artworks also tell the story of how the city and college shaped our thoughts, art, and growth. I believe this is just the beginning for us, and this space helps us understand what's next,' he adds.
The Hindu
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Drushyotsava 2025 art exhibition to begin at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath on Tuesday
The College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, will host Drushyotsava 2025, an annual exhibition showcasing the creative works of Applied Art and Animation students, starting June 10 to 15. The inaugural ceremony will take place on Tuesday at 11.30 a.m., featuring prominent industry professionals including Ravi Jangir, innovator and designer; Anand Unni and Aleemuddin Sunna, senior creative managers at TARGET Group; and Prashanth C, director of CGI and 3D Modelling at TARGET, Bengaluru. The exhibition will be open to the public daily from 10.30 a.m. to 7.30 p.m. at Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Kumara Krupa Road.
