Thrissur: Ni fest 8, the eighth edition of annual national art camp and village art festival by Niracharthu Kala Samskarika Samiti, will be held from December 6 (Wednesday) to December 10 at Enkakad, near Wadakanchery in Kerala’s Thrissur district. A total of 20 participants from different parts of India will attend the five-day camp, curated by renowned artist Sujith S N.
Murali Cheeroth, chairperson of Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi, will inaugurate the camp. A presentation by art curator and author Premjish Achari on the topic, “Seeing Like a Machine: Can Machines Liberate Human Creativity?” will be held as part of the event.
An exhibition of art works by late artist Midhun Mohan is among the events planned as part of the event. ‘Presidential sights’, a caricature show based on people in the locality , by Binu Bhaskar, artist and president of Niracharthu Samiti, will also be held.
“When a host of local artists join the art-making process, the camp makes the whole village a canvas. We structure Niracharthu camps as open avenues in the village, with artists choosing their place of work anywhere in and around the hamlet. Further, artists are accommodated in the houses within the village, thus providing them with an opportunity to touch and feel local culture and hospitality,” the organisers said in a press statement.
Ni fest will be held at three different sites at Enkakad. Camp and presentations will happen in and around Nidarsana Art Residency. The exhibitions are hosted at Oduvil Kunjikrishna Menon memorial library and the art programmes will be conducted at the Shenoy mill compound.
Niracharthu was founded in 2014 by a village community with the objects of reviving the artistic spirits of the village fold, grooming the next generation of artists and building the culture of art appreciation among ordinary people. The society has conducted seven national camps and village art festivals until now.