Walk through Fort Kochi and Mattancherry and see how art, history and politics intersect on its walls.
“That’s the unique nature of public art – its ephemerality combined with the interventions of public interactions with the image. This gives the image another, different life,” says Jinil Manikandan, artist and member of Trespassers. His response to a question about the transience of murals in public places – their vulnerability to heat, dust and rain. And of course a space for destruction that makes one wonder if the effort is worth it.
He illustrates his point with a previous work, a mural the collective painted at the Copra Market in Kozhikode in 2021, where they depicted the processes that brought the coconut to market. “When we reworked the site after a while, we noticed that the coconuts were stacked against the wall we painted, which gave us a ‘living/alive’ feel,” he says.
A mural by Fearless Collective in Fort Kochi. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Turning to the present, Jinil refers to a mural on a wall at the Cube Art Space in Mattancherry, Edam’s venue, one of the side events of the Kochi Muziris Biennale.
This is a work by Trespassers, a Kerala based collective of eight artists – Jinil, Vishnupriyan, Sreerag P, Ambady Kannan, Arjun Gopi, Pranav Pranav Prabhakaran, Bashar UK and Jatin Latha Shaji. All Fine Arts Students of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady – is on a 20×35 ft wall and is bright with details. In vivid shades of pink, green, blue and yellow, it is essentially a surrealistic depiction of life in the area. Pull out the A/C cable, which will become a stretched rope with a tightrope walker, which will turn into the tail of a sleeping tiger.
Their next work is on Armaan Collective’s water wall inspired by the surrounding landmarks – anchored fishing boats, people who live and work in the area with a great deal of imagination.
Appupen’s painting recreated at Burgher Street, Fort Kochi | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
“We never go to a place with a ready-made story or plan. The ‘story’ comes from the local tradition and people. The image grows on the spot as we begin,” says Jinil.
While muralists/collectives from across the country like Aravani Art Project, Osheen Siva, Munir Kabani and The Trespassers have painted walls in and around Fort Kochi and Mattancherry as part of KMB’s The Island Mural Project, works by other artists are also adding to the ‘walls as galleries’ experience of these places. The declared intention of the biennial within the project is to invite “everyone to experience the neighborhood in a new light”.
Fearless Collective mural on the Indian Coast Guard building in Fort Kochi. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Historically underground, murals are now the dominant form of public art. Often used as a tool for political and social expression, street art or public art is usually political. “Art is political, it has to be. Even if an artist claims to be apolitical, he expresses his politics,” says Jinil.
In 2012, anonymous artist Guesswho, dubbed the “Indian Banksy”, began painting over the walls of Fort Kochi. Over the years, he has painted Michael Jackson dancing Kathakali, the Mona Lisa in a chatta-mundo, Che Guevara dressed as a coolie, and Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali and Vincent van Gogh in lunges about to paint houses.
Osheen Siva’s work near Aspinwall House | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
From the gallery box
Neelu Sengupta, Head of Storytelling at Fearless Collective says that murals make art democratic and accessible: “It takes art beyond the conventional white cube space of an art gallery.” This collective of women encourages participation in the creation of public art with women or other underrepresented communities around the world. Founded by artist Shilo Shiv Suleman in 2012, The Fearless Collective encourages dialogue.
Although it coincided with the Biennale, this work is not part of it. Painted on the 200m wall of the Coast Guard office in Fort Kochi, it was done in collaboration with the local community. These works show large-scale portraits of the community – fishermen and those at the forefront of mangrove conservation.
“Community stories are essential, whether they’re about the climate crisis, gender identity, peacebuilding or social change,” says Neelu. The location is also intentional as the Indian Coast Guard is involved in marine conservation. The 16 Fearless Collective artists, women and non-binary people who worked on it, are not only Indian, but also from Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, including members of the Ambassador program.
A mural by the Aravani Art Project at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Mattancherry. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Mural by Osheen Siva on the wall of Palm Fiber Pvt. Ltd on Calvathy Road, near Aspinwall House, worked in collaboration with two local artists Aslah KP and Muhammed Ali Jouhar. He says the work “engages with Dalit visuality and foregrounds caste-oppressed cultural forms and histories from Kerala and Tamil Nadu”.
Munir Kabani’s ‘Wall of Love’ near Artshila, the venue of the Student Biennale, with yellow and green horizontal stripes creating the illusion of an enclosed space, reads ‘love’ in English and ‘sneham’ (Malayalam for love). It explores the tension between language and perception – how words and images can represent thought as well as shape how we see. It is a popular photo spot with locals and tourists alike. Superficially simplistic – it makes us question whether what we see is real.
Aravani Art Project, an art collective led by trans-women and cis-women, aims to create a space for people from the transgender community, has created murals at two locations, Women and Children Hospital Mattancherry and VKL Warehouse, depicting women in various stages of life dealing with life.
‘Walk Past You’ at the Seagull Hotel | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Near Pepper House, “Walk Past You” designed by American artist Reshidev RK will make you stop. While the digital art is by Reshidev, the painting is by Renjith Joseph and Arjun Ananth, who are part of Kochi-based artist Elwin Charly’s Charly and Boys group. “We wanted the history of Fort Kochi to be told visually as a mural, so this piece came about,” says Sandeep Johnson, who created the piece. Intricately crafted in Reshidev’s signature style, it features nuggets of Fort Kochi’s history – Vasco Da Gama, a local woman sifting pepper, a Jewish woman in period clothing and columns inspired by those in the Basilica of St. Francis.
A painting, Monk, by the late artist Midhun Mohan recreated as a tribute to him in Mattancherry | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
It’s not all serious, on Burgher Street in Fort Kochi check out ‘Amphibian Aesthetics’, a group show at Ishaara House (Kashi Hallegua House), Jewish City. The painting, which is a recreation of Bengaluru-based graphic novelist Appen’s work, is on display at Ishaara House. It is part of a multi-platform narrative connecting with the audience through print and murals, characterized by the artists’ signature dark humor and pop aesthetic. According to Ishara Arts, it “explores identity politics, surveillance, ecological unrest and the manufactured logic of propaganda.
Another ‘invitation’ is painted on the wall in front of Lakshmi Madhavan’s stunning installation, ‘Looming Bodies’, an exhibit of Kerala’s traditional handloom that speaks to the handloom weavers of Balaramapuram. The mural shows what appears to be a weaver’s hands weaving golden cassava.
Mural outside Kochi Muziris Biennale Collateral show, ‘Looming Bodies’ | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
And then there are some that are memorials, like the one outside Uru Art Harbour, Kappalandimukku, a recreation of the painting, Monk, by the late artist Midhun Mohan, who died in 2023. Midhun’s works talked about social and cultural issues prevalent in contemporary society, while some were explorations of the past and explored stories set in history.
Guess who is graffiti | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
“If I had to point to when such public art started to attract attention, I would say it was the first Biennale in 2012, when Guesswho’s works started appearing on the walls of Fort Kochi. Then it was more underground… Today, the tradition continues and whatever form it takes, it is still a political artistic expression,” says Sasi Kumar Vallikkadan of the Uru Artist Collective.
Even though the Kochi Muziris Biennale ends on March 31, the murals will be around for a little longer – a part of our daily lives, long after the sites and warehouses are emptied.
