11 artists come together on 11.11.11

KOCHI: The city witnessed a different kind of get-together on 11-11-11. A group of 11 artists conducted an art camp at Orthic Creative Centre from 11am to 11pm on Friday in memory of their friend, artist late P J Cherian.
"The fancy date is just an excuse. The basic agenda was to come together," said T Kaladharan, an artist and the brain behind the camp.
P J Cherian was the first person in the state to produce a Malayalam movie in the 1940s. His granddaughter Razia Tony was the only female artist among the participants in the camp.
Veteran artists Namboodiri, M V Devan and C N Karunakaran were also present. Rajan N Krishnan, Suresh Koothuparambu, Pramod Koorampala, G Rajendran, K K Rajappan and N N Rimson were the other artists.
Kochi: An art camp also latches in to the fancy day concept. From 11am to 11pm on Friday on November 11, a group of eleven friends came to the city, for an art camp to remember their friend, the late veteran artist P J Cherian.
T Kaladharan, a fellow artist and the main brain for the camp, wanted to make this Friday memorable. "The fancy date is just an excuse we played upon. The basic agenda was to come together!"
P J Cherian is regarded as the first person in the state to produce a Malayalam movie in the forties. His granddaughter Razia Tony, was also present at the camp. "I felt it as a calling to be part of this camp that has come together to celebrate the artist and person my grandfather was," says the only female artist in the camp who had come down from Chennai where she is settled. She was initiated into the realm of painting by her grandfather.
Veteran artist such as Namboodiri, M V Devan, C N Karunakaran rubbed shoulders with other artists such as Razia Tony, Rajan N Krishnan, Suresh Koothuparambu, Pramod Koorampala, G Rajendran, KK Rajappan, NN Rimson. By evening the crowd visiting Orthic Creative centre grew in number, many of them interacting with veteran artists in close quarters for the first time.