Artist sets record with 250-feet artwork -Sweta Akundi,THE HINDU

For the past couple of weeks, artist Jayakumar VS has been hosting a guest, who, as you are reading this, is sleeping on the bed in the second bedroom of his house in Perumbakkam, covered by a sheet of cloth. The ‘guest’ here, is nine massive sheets of paper, each larger than life, sketched on, by Jayakumar. Stacked side by side, the drawings measure up to 250 feet long and five feet in height: a record-setting feat which achieved Jayakumar a place in the Universal Record Forum. The mammoth work by the Punalur-born artist was displayed at Sargam 2019, held this month at Asan Memorial Senior Secondary School, Egmore which celebrated the cultural heritage of Kerala.

It follows that Jayakumar’s work, then, is as rich a tapestry as is Kerala’s diversity. Classical dance, music, and folk music and arts on the verge of extinction, find place in his sketches. From kalaripayattu to violins, theyyam to Mohiniyattam.

Interestingly, the artwork also highlights art forms that evolved under different religions. On one hand, you see a man meticulously drawing a kolam of Hindu goddess Kali: Kalamezhuthu Pattu, and on the other, you can see a depiction of the Islamic duffmuttu. The art form with Arabic roots finds prominence in the Malabar region, and has a group of men swaying their bodies to the beats of the duff, a wooden drum made of ox skin.