Jinson Abraham’s new show is placed in a rather complicated space where fashion and culture meet. The photography exhibition that showcases models dressed in simple silhouettes in varying shades off white, is set in a typical Kerala landscape and draws parallels to Kerala’s ancient cultural symbols. While celebrating the dawn of a new century as per Kerala’s ancient Kollavarsham (Kollam Era) calendar, the show also pays tribute to the State’s largest cottage industry, coir.
Jinson, a lifestyle photographer from Kochi, who designed the Kollavarsham 1199 calendar in 2023, with an aim to revive the forgotten Malayalam numerals, decided to bring out another to mark the turn of a new century. The origin of the Kollam Era calendar or the Malayalam calendar dates back to 825 CE. The first month in the Kollam Era calendar is Chingam and the last, Karkitakam.
The first calendar Jinson designed generated considerable interest and he received more enquiries and orders than he had expected. “The vattezhuthu script in the calendar is rarely used today; until a few years ago, it used to be used in title deeds, but it ended with digitisation,” says Jinson. The exhibition, is for him, a sense of bringing back things that are absent today, adds Jinson. “It is a thematic representation of Kerala; a reminder of our ancient culture and timekeeping tradition,” he says.
Jinson Abraham | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Golden Yarn of Time: Celebrating 1200 Years of Kollavarsham has 12 photographs to denote 12 months of the year and pages from the Kollavarsham calendar, painted in acrylic by three billboard artists Pramod, Narendran, and Manoj. Each canvas showcases old Malayalam numerals and zodiac symbols, reflecting Kerala’s agrarian traditions and cycles. The models dressed in shades of cream and earthy brown represent the coir workers, against the backdrop of coconut tree groves and coir production sites. The photographs build a narrative that takes the viewer along the process of coir production.
From the calendar | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Jinson has brought out desktop calendars too, with the photographs and the Kollavarsham calendar, which are photographic reproductions of the hand-painted calendar pages on show.
Jinson says the exhibition is the result of a collaborative effort by his team. While the visual concept, costume design, and styling have been done by Habela Joseph, production design and art direction are by Malavika Rajeev. Makeup is by Laxmi Vinod and the calendar has been packaged and designed by Nidhi Jacob.
Golden Yarn of Time: Celebrating 1200 Years of Kollavarsham is on at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery till August 31 . The desktop calendars can be ordered on www.kollavarshamcalendar.com
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