How ceramic clay shaped an art movement in Madras

CHENNAI: A blue-brown jug with a design etched on it, a container with an intricately carved fish on its lid, figurines of gods and goddesses – all made of ceramic; at first glance, the collection would perplex even those in the field of art. Some are functional, but there is a distinct touch of modern art in most. But who were the creators?

The 80-odd ceramic pieces displayed at the exhibition, Clay – New discoveries from the ceramic history of Madras, at Ashvita’s, Mylapore, are the remnants of an art movement which has been largely undocumented, of the ceramic industry that existed in 1960s Madras, that was closely linked with the Madras Art Movement. “They are all part of my collection of 25 years.

I started collecting pieces with ‘Madras’ written on them and came across ceramic pieces with ‘Art Pottery Madras’,” says Ashvin Rajagopalan of Ashvita’s. “They were just ₹100 each or so, and were found in houses, used paper shops and Moore Market.” It was only on coming across a book on the Cholamandal Artist’s Village that Ashvin realised that these pieces were all made by masters of the Madras Art Movement, and that they were a part of Madras’ art history.

Interestingly, though the history of the Madras Art Movement and the art works involved have been documented in detail, there is little information about the art pottery, probably because they weren’t art pieces by a particu lar artist, technically. One person would be in charge of design, another would create the moulds, and a third would be in charge of firing the pieces.

The story goes that K C S Paniker, who spearheaded the Madras Art Movement, invited craftsmen from different part sof the country to a camp in Madras in the 1960s to teach local artists and homemakers the art of creating ceramic, terracotta and bronze artefacts and batik textiles, says P Gopinath, president of Artist Handicrafts Association, Cholamandal Artists Village.

“People started buying these products, and they became commercially successful. In one such exhibition, a profit of ₹50,000 was made. There were no art galleries in those days and so the artists opted to work on craft and painted the rest of the time. The Cholamandal Artists Village was formed with 10% of the profits from that exhibition.”

Each of the pieces was unique, and they were trending during the time, as every household would buy one, says Nafeesa Kaderkutty, curator, who has also done the research for the exhibition. “We have also showcased how ceramics came to Madras at a time when China was the only country producing them.”

The pioneer of Madras Art Pottery, Nafeesa says, was artist Kanniyappan who was the only one who documented the process. “Nobody knows why the movement shut down eventually, but it had a great role to play in helping aspiring artists stay in art, instead of moving to other careers for financial stability.”