The list of ‘lacks’ at the College of Fine Arts is long…

Chellappan was once Thiruvananthapuram’s most sought-after model. For a quarter century, until his suicide a few years ago, the old man, wearing a simple mundu and shirt, used to walk in daily past the gates of the College of Fine Arts, escorted by the students of the sculpture or the painting department.

He sat still for hours, as the students recreated the wrinkles on his face and the sagging of his chest in clay or on canvas. Even today, all around the campus, replicas of the man at varying ages stand, some of them overrun by creepers and others having turned green by the accumulated moss.

In this urban sprawl, only a few public spaces are still receptive to those like Chellappan and his replicas. And, it is inside this campus, marked by the colonial-era red and white structure, that education beyond the questions of ‘market value’ and ‘utility’ survives. Idealism, though battered and bruised, still lives here, even as just outside the gates, a multitude of people caught in the web of super productivity and deadlines buzz by.

It was in 1888 that Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, the Travancore king, set up the ‘Maharaja’s School of Arts.’ It was known for its handicrafts training until it was upgraded to the College of Fine Arts in 1975, when C. Achutha Menon was the chief minister. But the contours of its present form emerged with the introduction of the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) courses in 1979.

At present though, the college has a confused existence under the Directorate of Technical Education, under which it came in 1957. Though the State’s premier art institution, it is still not accredited either by the University Grants Commission (UGC) or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).

“The idea of an arts college and its requirements is lost on the officials of the Technical Education Department. This cannot be run like an engineering college, though a body exclusively to run arts colleges is too much to ask for here,” says one of the college professors.

Availability of funds

Technically, there is no paucity of funds for the college. But, these are mostly for purchase of materials. For the activities most vital to a humanities college, such as organising a workshop or putting out a publication or even getting international art journals for its library, there are zero funds.

The most ironic problem, though, is the absence of an exhibition gallery — somewhat akin to a chemistry course without a lab facility. Over the past 20 years, three foundation stones have been laid for a gallery complex besides the main building. Now, skeletons of a structure stand here, the contractor having abandoned work owing to losses. A few of the buildings, most notably in the Department of Sculpture, have leakages too.

“An exhibition space could provide a platform for students to display their work and continuously improve. It will also be a way to interact with the public,” says Ratheesh Mullangod, a third-year student of painting.

The only avenue for exhibition is the annual degree show, when the final year students display their work over the years.

“The situation here is connected to the nature of the city too. It does not have any proper art galleries or a vibrant arts culture with discussions and criticisms,” says P.K. Manoj, professor of painting.

Though the course here formulated by the likes of K.K. Hebbar is current even by present standards, it does need a little updating, with the introduction of video art and other contemporary trends in digital art. The number of faculty members is also less than required, with shortfalls in all courses, except applied arts.

“The theory classes need a lot of improvement. When I compare my notes with that of a student from the last decade, it all looks the same. Also, not all teachers interact with us freely or give us constructive criticism,” says a student of the college.

The lack of an archive facility to keep a record of all the students’ works has meant that many valuable works were lost forever after evaluation.

Other fine arts colleges in Kerala

Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikara

Government College of Fine Arts, Thrissur

But even amid all these long list of problems and complaints, the students cherish the atmosphere here, devoid of competitions and deadlines. To the outside world, they may be laidback and lazy, but art does flourish here, in all its glory.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities > Thiruvananthapuram / by S. R.  Praveen / Thiruvananthapuram – July 16th, 2014