Cholamandal Artist Village

History
Cholamandal Artists' Village, established in 1966, is the largest artists'
commune in India, whose artists are credited for the Madras Movement of
Art (1950s1980s), 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, 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 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 in 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.

Cholamandal Artists Village is situated on the East Coast Road, some eight
kilometres further south of the Chennai city and about 18 kms from Chennai city
center. The place represents an important arts centre in the state of Tamil Nadu.
Cholamandal Artists Village is built over eight hectares of land in the Injambakkam
region which exists as an extension of the Chennai city. The place stands on the
coastal plains of Chennai and lies close to the sea, Bay of Bengal. Cholamandal
Artists Village is a great tourist destination in the vicinity of the popular metropolitan
city.
The Cholamandalam Arts Village has a permanent art gallery to hold exhibitions.
Sculptures made of granite; wood, copper and bronze are created within the Artists
Village. The open-air theater is a platform for performing artists or even poetry
reading sessions and dance recitals.
Indian arts such as batik and pottery and painting are seen in the myriad articles and
works done by the artists of the Cholamandalam village. You can view or purchase

interesting pieces in terracotta and batik. In fact Cholamandalam has grown to be an

important hub or meeting place for international artistes in sylvan surroundings.
The place can be accessed by taking a bus to the Injambakkam township. It takes
about 45 minutes to reach the place in a bus.
Visiting Hours: 10.00am to 7.30pm

Shilpa Architects
The Cholamandal Artists village named after the ancient Chola kings who were
great patrons of Art as is evident from their magnificent temples in their capital
(Tanjore). The Chola's influence spread to the corners of Asia and the rest of
the world. In 1965, the Madras Movement of Art crystallized around the
legendary KCS Paniker who along with likeminded Artists set up their
residences and studios in a rural setting on the sandy beaches of the Bay of
Bengal. The Artists Village is acclaimed as among the successful and
surviving art communes in the world.
In the beginning there was an Artists Gallery in a modest structure of thatch.
With international acclaim and growing stature the Artists wanted to exhibit
their signature works in a permanent structure. A core team of great artists
comprising of Nandagopal, Senathipathi, Gopi and Senthil coordinated the
project.
An important criterion was to design the structure without affecting the trees,
and the sculptures in the landscape. The first design wrapped the volute
shaped structures around them. The team opted for a more contemporary
structure in tune with the skills of the local masons and craftsmen. The display
areas were maximized in rectilinear shaped galleries with natural daylight and
high ceilings. The galleries opened to the gigantic trees and the sculptures
blended into the landscape.
The common entry led to the Gallery and the Museum that each opened out as
two wings from the entry space. The staggered placement of the two display
areas helped retain the existing landscape.
The larger wing, housed the permanent exhiibit area and the museum area of
the building. The focus of the design was to get as much natural light as
possible while cutting out the glare and heat. This was achieved by orienting
the openings to get in the glare free lighting from the north.
The building was treated with exposed brickwork and concrete. No additional
plaster or painting was envisaged. The lofted spaces in the museum/

permanent exhibit wing, overlooking the lower level spaces, navigates natural
light into all corners of the building.

Art is considered a lonely job because it usually ends in competition and friction. But not
anymore. Sneha Kakodkarfinds that Cholamandal Artists Village has been helping artists live
alongside each other and contribute to each others success since the past 40 years.

Of the numerous students who attend art schools, only a few get to pursue their dreams to
become painters or sculptors. Even the most talented are
lost to industry or teaching. With this

concern, the students of Government School of Arts & Crafts, Chennai, approached their
principal, K. S. Paniker.

This enthusiastic bunch, who were very passionate about their art, asked him, Where will we
find such a beautiful, inspiring campus after college? They were worried that even part-time
work or teaching art would take away their freedom, and end their artistic dreams. Another
obstacle was that Chennai predominantly supported cultural arts and recognition through fine
arts was quite rare. In trying to find a solution, Paniker stumbled upon the idea of creating an
artists village. There were only two requirements. One was land, the other capital.

Capital idea!

A French man Jean Tierre wore flamboyant shirts and when asked where he bought them from,
he revealed that buying clothes was boring. He purchased the silk, used paint on it and took
pearl buttons from his mother to complete it.

Paniker, the visionary, saw the untapped demand for such innovation in fabrics and taught the
students batik a manual wax-resist dyeing technique. The first batik exhibition was a sellout
and raised money to buy 10 acres of land on the outskirts of Chennai.

Paniker believed that a man may not kill for his wife or kids, but he would kill for land.
Therefore, the precondition to membership was that every artist had to own a piece of land,
large or small depending on his or her capacity to spend. The vision of the Artists Village
turned into reality in 1966, with a society of 40 artists. The Cholamandal Artists Village has
been home to many world-renowned artists such as V. Vishwanathan, Akkitham Narayanan,
S.G Vasudev, and Reddeppa Naidu.

Art for arts sake

The land was uninhabited, yet very serene. The closeness to the sand and sea, protection from
the scorching heat of the city provided by casuarinas and the air filled with the music of the
birds was an inspiration to the artists.

Being far from the city had many disadvantages but being en route Mahabalipuram, a major

foreign tourist destination, had greater benefits. The idea was to encourage artists to be
financially independent by using their skills to make batik tie and dye products, jewellery, and
metal work and brass products. The flexibility of working from home gave them the necessary
time to devote to their art.

Picasso believed that an artist should think about his art all the time and the Artists Village
provided the opportunity. Paniker along with his students played a huge role in creating an
identity for art in Chennai, thus giving way to the Madras Arts Movement.

The village which only had huts, has turned into

an artists haven. The permanent gallery has a fabulous display of paintings, graphics, drawings
and sculptures. Its open-air theatre, created from a sunken pond, now hosts over 300
spectators during music, theatre or dance performances. Musicians who have performed here
include Dr. M. Balmuralikrishna, M.D. Ramanathan and N. Ramani. Famous dancers include
Alarmel Valli and Leela Samson, and Maurice Bezzart of the Belgian National Theatre
presented a ballet based on the Siva-Parvati theme. Theatre artists Badal Sircar and Koothu-PPattari also performed here.
Luminary alumni
There is a workshop for batik and metal work and several guesthouses are rented out to art
aficionados. Artists who stay here for a year get to showcase their work at the gallery
alongside its permanent members.
Nandagopal, the renowned sculptor and permanent resident of Cholamandal, explains, All
artists have insecurities. I take more than a year to complete my sculpture and feedback is
often very useful in enabling me to make changes at an initial stage.

He started the International Sculpture Camp in 1979. It is a platform to invite sculptors from
different countries to live at the village, to feel inspired and to create magnificence. These
camps are conducted every two years and sculptors are discouraged from using power tools.
They are encouraged to enjoy with their families, experience the Artist Village and create the
sculpture over two months. Some of well-known artists such as Sir Anthony Caro and
Francisco Kleminsky have created amazing pieces of art here. Others participants include

Queen Mother Juliana of the Netherlands, Princess Wisdon Ali of Jordan, Andrez Wawrzynisk,
Jeannie Auboyer, and Simone and Andre Bonjaiboult.

Cholamandal Artists' Village is a community of artists who

imagined creating an environment conducive to artistic
growth. The idea they come up with was to set up a village
where like-minded people could live together and
creatively influence each other. This quixotic idea was
realised with the artist's own funds and they made the
natural setting even more delightful. Part of Cholamandal
Artists' Village is an art gallery that displays the works of
residing artists. Also within these confines is an open air
theater named 'Bharathi', where regular discussions and
seminars featuring learned artists are held.

When K.C.S. Paniker and his students set up the Cholamandal Artists Village on eight acres by the sea 8 km
south of Adyar Junction in 1965, they could not have envisaged that their collective vision would survive a
generation. Or that over a dozen of its 40-odd individuals would attain a global reach. Even less, that their
achievements would be commemorated with the inauguration of the 10,500 sq. ft. Cholamandal Gallery of
Contemporary Art Complex in February 2009.

Centrestage within the gallerys mezzanine floor is a

1957 oil on board, Genesis, by Paniker, predating
his more identifiable abstract phase. A fitting tribute,
indeed.
The great banyan and the open-air sculpture gallery.
All around the 3,600 sq. ft. K.C.S. Paniker Museum
of the Madras Movement are glimpses of significant
markers seldom gathered under a single roof.
The 1,600 sq.ft. Cholamandal gallery on the ground
floor offers visual insights into how the casuarinalined sand morphed into an ideational community.
Unlike government-funded artist settlements in Israel
and Cuba, the colony has been self-sustaining since
its inception.
The present complex, over three years in the
making, is surrounded by an international sculpture
garden, and celebrates the past as it toasts the
future.
How tough was it to get the gallery, designed
primarily by Sheila Sriprakash of Shilpa Architects
with inputs from Devan, off the ground?

Entrance the Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary

Art.

An initial sale of two grounds of land brought in Rs.

17 lakh, but the community had to raise
approximately Rs. 75 lakh for the complex. Artists
donated works for a fundraiser. Art patrons pitched
in to sustain the vision.
Two compact commercial galleries, poetically
namedLaburnum and Indigo, would
generate
income and partially shift the art scene away from
the city centre.
Being added to the complex are an exotic, yellowthemed, quasi-Mediterranean cafeteria, an art
bookshop and a craft shop. Even a 2,600-sq.ft
terrace space that can be rented for events.

K.C.S. Paniker Museum of the Madras Movement.

Today, perhaps, Cholamandal needs to pause to ask

itself: Is it too early to build a monument to a
movement? When will its impact be documented in
depth? Will the inheritors of its legacy value its
import, given the current state of art education?
Meanwhile, it can mull over a poetic image
presented by V. Viswanadhan at the inauguration, of
a group of young artists who slept under the stars by
a mud track, guarding the building materials for their
village. When they awoke, a tender green shoot
caught their eye. It was the genesis of the great
banyan at the entrance to their dream space.

An exterior view of Indigo and Labernum Galleries.

It was from such arching vision, propelled by selfbelief, that Cholamandal was born. Inspired by the
towering banyan, but never daunted by its shadow.
(Excerpts from an article by Aditi De in The Hindu
Business Line)

Shiraz Cafe.

Footnote: Thirty painters and sculptors have acquired land for themselves in order to be able to work in
comparative peace. Here the artist paints or sculpts through the major part of the day and applies himself to a
congenial art-craft during leisure hours to supplement, if necessary, his income from the sale of paintings and
sculptures. Cholamandal is perhaps the first of its kind anywhere in the world. It is administered by an annually
elected council of members. Cholamandal welcomes visitors to the village. It has a twin guest cottage.

CMIArtsInitiative
Each year, the Chennai Mathematical Institute offers two non-Indian Sangam House alumni the
opportunity to be Writers-In Residence at the Institute through their Arts Initiative Program.
The residency periods run for 6 weeks each, between January and March each year.
Writers have independent accommodation at Studio Arnawaz and Ammu Cottage in
Cholamandal, the Artists Village and have office space at CMI.
During their residency, writers interact with the CMI community as well as with other writers and
literary organisations in the city.

History

Cholamandalam Artists
Village was conceived by the renowned artist, Panicker.
When it came into existence, the swanky ECR or East Coast

Road was a narrow road that connected a multitude of

fishermens hamlets.

Why the name Cholamandalam, one may ask. Well, it is to

honor the Cholas, whose contribution to Tamil Nadus art
and culture is indisputable. When Cholamandalam came
into being, it was home to about 40 artists who fashioned
their very own art space and dedicated their lives to art.
Cholamandalam is today a dynamic space where art is
created on an enduring basis. Whether it is classical or
contemporary art, this artists village offers a platform to all
strains of art.

Cholamandalam is unique; it is the first place of its kind

globally where artists have come together to pursue their
art in sylvan surroundings.

To Do At Cholamandalam

The Cholamandalam Arts

Village is a fascinating place with its picturesque environs
close to the shores of the turquoise waters of the Bay of
Bengal. The village hosts a permanent art gallery to hold

exhibitions. So if you are into art, whether for investment

purposes or just for the love of the subject, this is a place
you should visit.

There is a lovely, airy open-air theater which serves as a

platform for performing arts, be it theater, dance or even
poetry readings. Sculptures fashioned out of an array of
mediums like granite, wood, copper and bronze are created
within the Artists Village.

Cholamandalam Artists Village has two gallery halls, one in

the ground floor and first floor and the other one is a small
air-conditioned building neighboring the main gallery.

The village is a hotbed of artistic ventures and you can pick

up unusual pottery or works of art in batik or terracotta.
This sylvan hamlet has developed into an important focal
point for international artistes. It hosts a variety of fairs and
exhibitions to create awareness about Indias dying or lost
arts. If you are an art buff, Cholamandalam is a must visit.
You can pick up exclusive works of art and also souvenirs
for gifting.

Shiraz Art Cafe : "From Persia With

Love"
This weekend, we drove to the Cholamandalam Artists Village at East Coast Road, Chennai.
Located amidst the sculpture garden in the Artists village, one cannot miss Shiraz caf with it's bright
yellow and white exterior and tall French windows. The caf is run by Nasrin a charming and
friendly lady and her husband Farhad, who are from Iran and have been in India for over 30 years
While Farhad takes care of their art workshop through the week, Nasrin cooks some of the delicacies
herself and plays the perfect hostess. The caf is named Shiraz after a place in Iran which is known
as the the poetic capital of Persia and is known for its famous poets and many gardens.

As you enter the caf, you cant help yourself admiring the simple and welcoming dcor that adds
to the warm and homely feel in the atmosphere. The striking yellow wall paper with its mosaic like
pattern, little objects of interest, the fresh flower arrangements, the shelves adorned with crockery and
soft music flowing in the back ground set the scene. The couples love for glass and artwork is evident
from the various paintings and stained glass paintings tucked in the place - the brilliant stained glass
works are done by Nasrins husband Farhad himself !!

The relaxed and laid-back setup of the caf, the reasonably priced lip-smacking food and
the hospitality and service extended by Nasrin makes this caf a perfect place where one can chill
out on a lazy Sunday afternoon with family and friends and devour on unique Iranian flavors . !!