Bara Bhaskaran

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Bara Bhaskaran, born in the North Kerala village of Bara in Kasaragod in 1967, is a visual artist and a chronicler of subaltern histories. His career as a visual journalist and illustrator for some of India’s national newspapers and magazines spans close to three decades. A college dropout, his education in art was rudimentary -a KGCE in fine arts from School of Arts, Thalassery. He began illustrating for Desabhimani, the newspaper of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a wide range of little magazines including Samkramanam and Alkoottam while attending classes at the School of Arts. In 1989 he moved to New Delhi working for publications like the Times of India, Economic Times, India Today and Indian Literature. His 1994 solo show ‘Childhood Friend’ based on Vaikkom Mohammed Basheer’s famed Malayalam novel ‘Balyakala Sakhi’ – a series of 100 paintings – received critical appreciation and was acquired by Kerala state government for permanent display at the Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram. He returned to his home state in Kerala and continued his art practice, quietly pursuing his deep interest in history and people. This found reflection in ‘Ente Keralam Rekhakal’ (My Kerala Chronicles), a still-running column in the form of a visual travelogue that began in the literary journal Bhashaposhini in the year 2000. His subaltern life sketches published during the same period received wide acclaim. His biography of tribal activist C K Janu published in 2003 was translated into around six languages. In 2006 he did a series of paintings on Pattanam in collaboration with the Kerala Historical Council for Historical Research (KCHR) project for excavation of Muziris, an ancient sea port. Bhaskaran did several art shows in between in various Indian cities and Amsterdam and London. In the recent years, works by Bhaskaran composed of intricate drawings has acquired a new direction – mindscapes depicting roots entangled with historical, cultural and personal memories and reordered aerial landscapes. His Amazing Museum series is currently being exhibited at Aspinwall House as part of the Kochi Muziris Biennale-2016 curated by Sudarshan Shetty.

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Artists, EVERYBODY IS THE OTHER, NO ONE IS HIMSELF