'Re-Collections' on ClipBoard

Once upon a time there were clipboards in wood/hardboard with steel clips/holders...'it multi-tasked'...from being a simple writing pad to exam pad...from drawing pad and scribbling pad to list storing pad even...from holding scripts to all kinds of applications too! Remember???

When I deliberate on it...it was the time when we (some of us at least!) as kids used to dread it, at some point, as it was something connected to exam-nightmares (for me esp before Maths!)...associated to dreams and hopes...linking us to our future...bearing all the scars of our feelings and emotions...they held on to us as we held on to them!

Now-a-days, the link has been lost as we don't find them in any store any more! 

You really need to delve into a kind of treasure hunt for those inanimate wooden clipboards! (One does come across clipboards with assortment of colorful cartoons though but the feel of the raw wood, smooth finish for the paper and scarred behind and the broad metal clip with the maker's mark embossed on it at the top to hold the paper is something nostalgic.)

Having said that, I got to see those wooden clipboards transformed into delightful and magnificent 'beings' lined up on the wall of Gallery E of Durbar Hall, each proclaiming a tale of its own! Not one, not two, not even ten...but 101 of them...from different parts of India and abroad. The diversity it displayed is quite amazing; illustrations, abstracts, mixed media, digital prints, 3-D, laser cut, even sculpted and what not!

For Shijo Jacob (Lecturer at Raja Ravi Varma College of Fine Arts, Mavelikkara), Clipboard is synonymous with nostalgia. As the curator of the show he has been successful to a great extent to bring out that feeling of recollections, of aspirations, dreams and dilemmas, childhood desires, fantasies and fears from and through each participating artist. He sent out clipboards to 101 artists and each artist metamorphosed a mere clipboard into something unique and personal, gaining momentum to salvage a once lost and forgotten experience or the aforesaid feelings, emotions and thoughts, expressing them into an artifact...it has a greater relevance today since everything is fleeting and transient these days; 'Attachment and commitment' seems to have lost relevance. It is not only an extension of such thoughts that has come to life but one could even find exclusive digression like political innuendos too.

"Clipboard within the medium of discursive parameters of this exhibition is not just about the nostalgic past. It involves use and disuse of methods and materials; it speaks of fossilization of objects and events; it narrates the story of arrivals and departures of ideas; it creates a platform to negotiate the idea of disappearance in the days of globalization; it also speaks of a retrieval system as memory is one such mechanism we have to live upon. Clipboard is a support, a hold, an enthusiasm and a memory pad that does not have a self illuminating screen."

- Johny M L (Art Critic, Curator, Writer)

Clipboard Poster

I reached there at the nick of time...lamp lighting (Couldn't click the pictures though)! The hall was already beaming with artists and art enthusiasts.

 At Gallery E, Durbar Hall, Kochi

Artist-Curator Shijo Jacob lighting the lamp

Here's a glimpse of what I saw...you need to see this in person as they aren't doing real justice here!

Ajaya Kumar, Rakesh Puliyarakonam, George Martin, Pooja Iranna, Midhun Raj

Siji R Krishnan, Jayadeep R S, Priti Vadakkath, Sonali Laha, Sunil Sree

Babitha Kadannappally, Benoy P J, Gireesh G V, Josh P S, Bhagyanath

Shajith R B, Tensing Joseph, S G Vasudev, Manmeet Devgun, Anu B S

P K Manoj, Gigi Scaria, N N Rizmon, Remya Sandeep, Renji Viswanath

Surendran Karthyayan, Ashok Kumar Gopalan, Reji K P, Jayaram Poduval, Kattur Narayana Pillai

Gopi Krishna, Antony Karal, Moutushi Chakraborty, Balakrishnan V P, Suresh Panicker

Shinod Akkaraparambil, Zakkir Hussain, P R Satheesh, Harilal Krishnan, Rinku Raj

Vivek Vilasini, T V Santhosh, Vivan Sundaram. Nijina Neelambaram, T Kaladharan

K K Sasi, Ruchika Wason Singh, Ranjith Raman, Anoop Kamath, Roy Thomas

Shijo Jacob (middle)

Manoj Vyloor, Mimi Radhakrishnan, Murali Cheeroth, Dodsy Antony, Barnet Alex Varghese

Abhimanue V G, M T Jayalal, K S Radhakrishnan, K K Rajappan, Ritu Kamath

Saju Mannathur, Tom J Vattakuzhi, Mukta Kamplikar, Azis T M, Biveesh B

Shanti Kasi, Margaret Lanzetta, A P Sunil, Moeen Fatma, Johny M L

Binoy Varghese, Deepthi P Vasu, Prasad Kumar K S, Aby P Robin, Arun Kumar H G

Jyothilal T G, Anil Thambai, Merlin Moli, Pradeep Naik, Sabrina Osborne

Sajeev Visweswaran, Uthara Remesh, Deepak John Mathew, Shine K, Aji Adoor

Anandakrishnan S K, K T Mathai, G Unnikrishnan, Pratul Dash, Santhosh K

Sandeep Biswas, Rajeev Puliyoor, Manu Binny George, Ashik L, Babu Xavier

Aiswaryan K, Anindita Chakraborthy, Joseph Mathew, Shivani Aggarwal, Shilpa Mayenkar

In its entirety, Clipboard was a treat to watch.

Even the catalogue is awesome, it's a great keepsake! You can find the works of all 101 artists :)

 

The first two pictures are from Clipboard FB page.