Southern Latitudes: Scenes from Madras & Trivandrum exhibition in Thiruvananthapuram traces the birth of modernism in south India

Artist-writer Tensing Joseph describes his exhibition, Southern Latitudes: Scenes from Madras & Trivandrum, as an “academic show for the art community”. Showcasing over 140 works by 30 acclaimed artists, the event at the College of Fine Arts (CFA), Thiruvananthapuram, explores the evolution of modern art in South India, analysing its developments in Keralam and erstwhile Madras, while paying homage to artistic initiatives like the Cholamandal Artists’ Village founded by KCS Paniker.

Southern Latitudes: Scenes from Madras & Trivandrum features the works of P Kesavankutty, CL Porinchukutty, RB Bhaskaran, Alphonso Doss, Anila Jacob, C Dakshinamoorthy, AP Santhanaraj, Valsan Koorma Kolleri, C Viswanathan, KK Rajappan, Hiroshi Mikami, NKP Muthukoya, CN Karunakaran, C Douglas, G Rajendran, P Gopinath, K Hebbar, K Jayapala Panicker, Madathil Vasudevan, NS Bendre, Artist Namboothiri, SG Vasudev, S Nandagopal, M Santhanam, ACK Raja, KM Adimoolam, Akkitham Narayanan, Kanayi Kunhiraman, Kattoor Narayana Pillai and KCS Paniker.

“The emergence of modernism in Keralam started in the 1960s and continued till the ‘80s. The exhibition is an investigation into how it began in the State — in films, literature and the overall culture,” says Tensing, who curated a lineup show last year in Kochi, featuring 15 artists dealing with the same theme. However, the collection did not include a few key works from Keralam and Tamil Nadu.