Young artists take model route to bring to life leaders of Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: A month ago, a group of 26 students from various

art

colleges in Tamil Nadu with senior sculptor G Chandrasekaran began collecting the names of social and revolutionary

leaders

in Tamil Nadu since 1830. Getting the names was easy, but not the photographs so the team restricted the number to 300. On Saturday, they began a new initiative of social and historical awareness by moulding

clay

and giving a face to the men who have made sacrifices for the country but are forgotten by the public.



Initially they will create sculptures of 26 leaders during the three-day camp at CSI Higher Secondary School for the Deaf at Santhome. Faces of leaders like anti-caste activist and Siddha practitioner C Iyothee Thass,

dalit

activist and freedom fighter Immanual Sekaran, dalit activist Rettamalai Srinivasan, social and political

activists

Appadurai, M C Rajah and L C Gurusamy will be sculpted, apart from prominent names like Mahatma Gandhi and B R Ambedkar. “We have selected 300 activists and leaders. We have just begun with 26 artists. Each one will do the

sculpture

of a leader in these three days,” said former Madras Arts College principal Chandrasekaran.

The idea of creating the sculpture of erstwhile leaders and activists is to create awareness among people about the social and cultural history of Tamil Nadu. “As artists, it is our duty to communicate to people in the way we can. When leaders like Gandhiji and Ambedkar are widely known, some leaders who made significant changes in pockets of Tamil Nadu remain unsung heroes. We are trying to remember the contribution of those leaders and their significance through these sculptures,” he said.

S Bharani, an alumnus of the Madras Arts College, said, “It’s a great opportunity to look at the cultural and social history of Tamil Nadu.” “We have been given photographs of the respective leader who we are going to

model

on clay. We can’t simply create a figure for the sake of it. So we have studied in detail the social and political significance of each leader. And this will reflect in each work,” he said.

The sculptures will be exhibited on December 31 at a function in the city. Chandrasekaran said his team is experimenting art in the present context. “Each sculpture will have a brief information about the leader. This will help viewers get a clear idea about the person. A museum will be set up to house these sculptures once all the works are complete,” said Chandrasekaran.



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