KOCHI:
Adding to the beauty of half-a-dozen installations at the ongoing three-day international event in this city, ‘Kissa’, a Malabar-based organisation, splendidly busts the myth that design is an elitist concept; rather the common people can also conceive and afford it tastefully.
The way the nascent Kerala organisation has enhanced the outdoor looks of the Kochi Design Week (KDW) is drawing keen enquiries from curious visitors, convincing them the need to go in tune with nature while drawing and implementing plans of visual effect.
If the very looks of the pathway to the December 12-14 KDW in Bolgatty Palace are distinct, it is because of the off-beat approach to decoration and the unorthodox materials that have gone into it, courtesy Kissa, which espouses aesthetic enhancement through affordable design.
Founded this summer, the organisation in the state’s north-central Malappuram district is headed by a young homemaker who returned to her native place after 14 years of married life in the Gulf. Neethu Rahman, in her mid-30s, lives in Areekode, where she founded Kissa in April after having returned from Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah three years ago.
“We design venues in line with the general mood of the event,” says Neethu at the KDW being oganised chiefly by the Kerala government. “Given that this event is fundamentally into exploring ways to rebuild sustainable infrastructure, we knew the vitality of it being nature-friendly. So, despite the convergence of a whole lot of corporate houses here, we knew the designs can’t be flamboyant even as they need to be attractive.”
The KDW site by the Arabian Sea has its rows of cost-effective installations with striking appearance. For instance, there are thin wooden planks that are actually parts from vegetable carton boxes. The festoons and tiny boats are made of paper. What’s more, the hanging dolls are of the ‘Chekutty’ variety that have been a hit in Kerala as symbols of people’s resilience after the 2018 floods that hit the coastal state.
Another installation has a middle-aged woman selling the Kozhikode halwa known for its unique looks and flavour. Dressed in ethnic Islamic garment of Malabar also known for traditional hospitality, she sells the sweet dishes in the shade of the roof made of black cloth.
A wooden watercraft containing big paper balls and small boats displaying lines of profuse thanksgiving symbolise the salute of Keralites to the fisherfolk community for saving thousands of lives during last year’s deluge.
Another installation is a collection of 50 photographs judges selected from among 4,000 such entries to an annual competition held six months ago by environmental organisation Greenstorm Foundation along with UNEP. Named ‘Breath of Nature’, the online competition’s 2019 edition held in June “sprang up camera images that we thought could go well with the theme of KDW,” says Neethu.
Then there is ‘Book of Life’ that speaks poignantly about the intensity of the 2018 flood in SS Higher Secondary School in Neethu’s Areekode 25 km north of Malappuram city. “Let’s not forget that the literal meaning of kissa is story. This is a tale from my village,” says Neethu about the installation that is a sample of the books that were destroyed in the natural tragedy.
Yet another artwork is a representation of seawaves, made of paper. Closeby is another installation which is a collection of ethnic toffees of 20th-century vintage from across Kerala. KDW aims to chart a long-term development mission for Kerala through futuristic design and architecture.
