Cholamandal Artists' Village

It was established in the year 1966. This Artists Commune is the home of over 50 noted artists.It is an exhibition displaying. The work done in the village, Includes Paintings, Sketches,Batiks and Terrracotta Sculpture. About nine kms from Chennai, nestling amidst a casuarina grove and within a stones throw from the emerald blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, lies an artists village, Cholamandal. Surrounded by an old decrepit and sparsely populated village Injambakkam, it is today the hub of thirty painters and sculptors who have formed the village and run the Artists Handicrafts Association on well-oiled wheels.Thirty-two years before, this idyllic locale was nomans land unhabited, with a stretch of sand and luscious casuarina plantations dotting the landscape. "In the 1960s we had no outlet for artists to exhibit or pursue a career in arts," mentions Senathipathi, the present President of Cholamandal. More so, the students after the completion of their graduation joined some job and were gradually lost in the crowd." So forty students of the Arts and Crafts College of Madras got together and resolved to create their own environment, wherein they could retain their freedom and devote their life to art. The Principal of the institution at that time was the late K.C.S.Paniker. He had already started his search for an art, as he described it, "Indian in spirit and world wide contemporary." He now came forward with a concrete idea the concept of living as a community. Mutual help was to be the cornerstone of success in this venture. With this idea in mind they pooled their resources and bought six grounds of land south of the city. At that time the prices of land were low. So their meagre resources, which they had saved from commission and sales of artwork came in handy. The first batch of seven artists moved out to Cholamandal in May 1966, to live and work here in extremely trying conditions.

The Cholamandam Artists Village, situated about 9 kms from Chennai city is a haven for art lovers and artisans alike. Way back in 1964, the principal and students of the Madras School of Arts and Crafts set up this institution that has come to be recognized as a significant school of art and crafts. At that time, there were no institution or outlet for those seeking to pursue a career in arts. The Late K.C.S Paniker was one of the pioneering spirits behind the Cholamandalam Arts Village in Chennai. Artists live as a community and pooled together their skills and resources.

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 btik 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. 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, India, 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 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

History
Cholamandal Artists' Village is situated on the East Coast Road, some eight kilo metres further south of the Chennai city. 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. Overview The place features a calm and serene environment, ideal for the artists at work. There are small cottages which serve as the residential places for the artists of the community. Two art galleries at Cholamandal Artists' Village exhibit the works of the resident artists. The galleries feature great collection of paintings and sculptures that are on sale. Each resident artist has his own gallery and a studio, wherein his personal contributions are housed. There is an open air theatre meant for performances by the artists. The Guest House, donated by the German Government, provides for the accommodation at

Cholamandal. The place is fast becoming a great destination of cultural exchange. Accessibility Cholamandalam Artists' Village is located at a distance of about 18 kms from Chennai city center. 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. A more convenient means would be by hiring a taxi from the city. Most of the original founding creative artists, painters and sculptors were students and artists associated with the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Chennai (Madras School of Arts), where K.C.S. Paniker, noted metaphysical and abstract painter, was principal 1957 to 1967. These artists desired to form a congenial space for practising their art; thirty eight of them got together and formed the 'Artists Handicrafts Association' (AHA) in 1963 initially to sell the works of artists. Gradually the artists started working together, producing handicrafts in their spare time, they were among the first in the country to produce batik fabric, proceeds of their first batik exhibition went into buying the 8.5 acres (34,000 m2) of land in 1966, which was to make up the village. By now K.C.S. Paniker had retired and founded the artists commune in April 1966. It was named after the Chola dynasty, which is known to have encouraged arts and ruled the region, 9-13th century CE; called Cholamandalam in Tamil, which

literally translated as The realm of the Cholas,. Chola also lends its name to the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal, which is few minutes of walk away from the village [9] . Another reason was the Paniker was "worried that his students might deviate from art due to financial compulsions" In the same year six artists moved into live and work on their own land. In the 60s, while they could hardly sell their paintings, avant garde wood and leather work, batik, ceramics and metal craft made by them, found a good market, this sustained them for the duration, while the local buyers were familiarized to modernism, which their art represented.

Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art

During is last days Paniket had offered his oeuvre to the Madras government on the condition that a separate gallery be created for his work, when no response came from the government, eventually the Trivandrum Art Gallery took up the offer, an now houses an important collection of Paniker's work, but the artists at the village wanted a place for displaying all the works of Madras Movement at the place, thus idea of the art museum took place

The artists raised money from the private sector to found a museum within the village, which would house a permanent collection of artworks representative of the Madras Movement. While the initial design was made by a visiting Dutch couple, the design for the art centre was made by architects Sheila Sri Prakash of Shilpa Architects and M. V. Devan, as project gathered momentum help came in from various artists and corporates alike. Finally after three and half years of construction the building was, and thus started a long search for works that exemplified the Madras Movement, which flourished between the early 50s and the 80s. Eventually about 60 per cent of the works were donated by senior artists and the rest were given on extended loan by art collectors around the country

Facilities
Today, the village houses a number of art galleries, museums, and an open-air theatre on the site also houses dance and theatre performances. The original Artists Handicrafts Association is still in charge of the colony, and Paniker's son, sculptor S. Nandagopal, is the Secretary of the Village. Out of the original forty artists, many are no more, and some have moved out, only twenty one remain today, and Cholamandal does not accept new members, though it has at least a dozen artists living or working there at any time in the year, plus many artists-in-residence are also at work here The village is open daily from 10 am to 5pm. It is 10 minute walking distance from the Golden Beach. Local transport is now easily available and the Chennai International Airport the nearest airport, is 15 km away.