“All of us cannot be weavers or designers, but a colouring book allows us to play a part in the craft in a way, inviting us to appreciate and engage with it,” says S Ahalya, founder of Kanakavalli that curates exclusive Kanjivaram saris. She set up the Ekavalli Foundation to take her love for the gorgeous Kanjivaram story further than saris and its début initiative is a big square cream and gold colouring book called Vanam Singaram (The Forest Adorned). “What excites us most about this project is the potential that these drawings have for each of us to participate in the art form of the Kanjivaram,” she explains.

Open the book and almost immediately you see familiar motifs. You have seen them before on the Kanjivarams hanging in your cupboard. From the distinctive round rudrakshams and graceful Paisleys to grand annams and stately elephants. I know I am going to shade the paisley, but which one would Ahalya colour first?

“I don’t really have a single favourite motif, but I do think the annam is very beautiful and classic. What I love about it is that we see the annam in so many forms of art across South India, from brass work and sculpture to textile and painting. It is a mythological bird that represents the best of what each of us pursues in our own lives I think: love and peace. This idea of a bird as a messenger is very lovely, and I think the symbol resonates with the dove in the Western world as well.”

While Vanam Singaram is by no means a comprehensive documentation of the Kanjivaram motifs, Ahalya says it is a beginning. “Traditionally, most motifs are born as free-hand drawings and then converted into graphs for the loom by people trained in the process. For us to produce this book, free-hand drawings had to be converted into digital drawings.”

The free-hand drawings were of the prodigious (late) N Veerappan, who won a National Award for Craft with his creation of a silk scarf that comprised 1600 different types of designs inspired by the silk and cotton saris of South India. Veerappan trained in the arts and worked with the likes of Rukmini Devi Arundale (Founder, Kalakshetra Foundation) and cultural activist Pupul Jayakar and artists and art teachers from Santiniketan.

His son Palanivel, also an award-winning weaver, generously shared his father’s free-hand drawings that found their way into the book. “Converting someone’s work into digital art was a very laborious process. Those who saw merit in the Vanam Singaram project and were involved in bringing it to life put in hours of work across two years to bring this colouring book to the world,” says Ahalya.

There is a section in the book that tells you of the traditional hues. Chilli reds, turmeric yellows, parrot greens and the famous MS Blue and a Fanta orange too! One learns of the significance of the colours and their associations to either familiar food and spirituality! From tomatoes, onions and brinjals to mangoes, jamuns, cardamom and saffron … these are the delicious, sumptuous and evocative shades that a Kanjivaram can be.

We all wear the Kanjivaram. But, according to Ahalya, “The Vanam Singaram colouring book is an attempt to reach out to a wider audience so that people can appreciate what goes into the Kanjivaram beyond just wearing the sari. It allows people to celebrate the art of the Kanjivaram — its provenance, the skill that goes into its weave and its relevance in our culture. About 10-15years ago, everyone was quite sure that the idea of the sari was declining, that young people did not take to the sari as much as their parents and grandparents had. Fortunately, over the last few years we have seen a return to the sari,” she says and adds, “Any art, I believe, becomes precious only when there are enough people who appreciate it. This book, Ekavalli Foundation hopes, will draw more people into the world of the Kanjivaram.”

A motif for beauty

Find the Vanam Singaram Kanjivaram colouring book in all Kanakavalli stores in Chennai, Coimbatore, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It is also available online at https://kanakavalli.com/products/colouring-book-vanam-singaram It comes along with a set of notecards with individual envelopes and stickers, all celebrating the gorgeous motifs.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Society> History & Culture / by Pankaja Srinivasan / November 09th, 2018