What is life bereft of colour? As someone who has always been able to discern the difference between the terracotta hue left on my vellumma’s lips after having Vettila Murukku, to appreciating the flecks of brown-red fibre in good Matta Ari, and every hue in between, the idea of a world sans colour is unimaginable to me. At the Bafna house at Fort Kochi, located right next to The Hosteller here, I was welcomed to an Art House experience by Asian Paints Royale called ‘A Story in Red’, built for someone like me, where every minor difference in hue tells a story, and red was their colour of choice.
The Asian Paints Royale led ‘A Story in Red’ curated by the renowned interior designer and curator Ranji Kelekar is a multi-room exhibit that is running in parallel with theKochi Muziris Biennale. The site-specific art exhibit has been curated with the intent to showcase the potential that a singular colour holds – red in this case – and how it adapts across forms, textures, culture, communities and geographies, and beyond time too.
While in conversation with PinkLungi, Amit Syngle, the MD & CEO, Asian Paints Ltd., shared how a few select colours were considered to lead the story, but eventually Red emerged as the winner; a colour that is rooted in Indian identity, but of course with global repute and relevance. From the auspicious nature of a red Garchola worn by an Indian bride a century ago from the curator’s personal collection to the custom-designed Four Poy by Kunal Shah that offers a contemporaneous take on the traditional Indian day bed – the space is filled with objects that ask the viewer to pause, linger and to ‘consider the red.’
As soon as one steps in through the gates of the Bafna House, what you are greeted by is a bunch of coconuts painted red, and a mural in red by five up and coming Kerala artists Harisankar Muraleedharan, Athul P., Affin Anu Singh, John Martin, Sudharshana B Shenoy and titled ‘Dhesham’, sets the mood; the artists are depicting their homeland in a myriad of moments, emotions and objects through the mural.
Once you make your way inside the door, you are met with an Okmus – a traditional Goan ensemble in red and white robes worn by pallbearers during the annual procession of saints – but designed exclusively by the renowned designer Savio Jon for the event. As you make your way further inside, you are met with a roof painted in complementary shades of red – from otter brown to scarlet, and a room filled with objects that narrate the story of red in its myriad hues. Handblown glass bangles from Rajasthan, a custom-woven Aarambh tapestry featuring real gold zari by Smriti Morarka, red Parsi velvet slippers, an Uruli filled with Matta Ari (red rice), and a bunch of Kadali Pazham, placed carefully on a chequered fabric.
As you venture further, you are taken beyond India – to an Iranian origin Kalamkari tapestry from the 19th/20th century that was found by the curator in a Parisian market; the details in red – from pomegranates to the coats of the soldiers and detailed around the edge in gold – all speak to a story of global resonance. In the final room is the FOUR POY by designer Kunal Shah, a cheeky take on the traditional Indian daybed with its frame painted red, with its details in black and white, taking it out of its traditional setting, and bringing it into the modern world.
A Story in Red features pieces commissioned specifically for it, from the personal collections of the curator, and even picked up from local markets – from the Parsi market of Bombay or those in Kerala; And its curation is not done considering red as a static entity, but as a hue that is morphing with time, continuing in reflecting notions of warmth and energy but also opposingly of power and caution. It marks celebration and prosperity in the Indian context, and finds new meaning in new places and situations. Across the exhibit, Asian Paints Royale red shades flow through the walls and interact with each installation, tying the entire experience together.
As this installation finds home in Kochi, Kerala – a state where the red communist flag still waves actively, where the lucky red seeds are beloved as a keepsake, and our ancestral homes are still paved in red oxide, A Story in Red finds home in the rhythm of life here, settling into scarlet-tinged sunsets over Arabikadal and finds place among the throng of art exhibits that have taken over Fort Kochi.
