Making textile is considered itself an art practice in antiquity. The continuing exercise of creating and transforming the richness of the cloth in the contemporary art world is an enduring activity. Weavers are indigenous art practitioners engaging with cultural settings in old times, creating clothes for wear, and imaging artistic identity through making the clothes. The fabric art of southern India is rich in tradition and vibrant in nature articulating contemporary society. Contemporary art practice in Kerala holds a mature body of works related to textiles and traditional handloom to a socio-political- cultural avant-garde. The four artists, Ranjith Raman, Lakshmi Madhavan, Mona Mohan, and Blodsow Vs, displayed their artwork in Lokame Tharavadu (the world is one family), curated by Kochi Biennale Foundation cofounder Bose Krishnamachari in Alappuzha, Kerala, in the middle of the pandemic situation, conveying the vibrant nature of art practices. The young artist, Anandu Premil exhibited his installation in the SN school of art and communication; the department of fine arts, University of Hyderabad ‘master’s final display’, conceptualises indigenous chronologies in textile.
There are many links in socio-political and environmental matters in the contemporary Kerala art scenes, textiles, and other mediums. The central theme of the Lokame Tharavadu show is ‘the home’; artists accomplished their works by portraying this idea in diverse mediums and forms. Delhi-based Malayali artist Ranjith Raman is the foremost explorer of textile and fabrics in the contemporary art scene. From the beginning of 2000, Ranjith started working with cloth and fabric materials out of thinking about the genre. Ranjith ones talk, the “process is all-important in fabric artwork”
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