Cholamandal Artists’ Village - Museum of Contemporary Art Chennai.

 

Cholamandal Artists' Village is the largest artists' commune in India, whose artists are credited for the Madras Movement of Art (1950s–1980s), which brought modernism to art in the South India. Cholamandal Artists' Village is established in 1966. The community was founded by the principal of the Madras School of Arts K.C.S. Paniker along with his students and a few artists associated with the college. Their work is widely recognized as some of the best art produced in postwar India and is shown regularly in galleries across the country. Several Cholamandal artists have also shown in Europe, the United States and South America. Cholamandal Artists’ Village is delighted to offer visitors, the recently inaugurated Cholamandal Centre for Contemporary Art.

 

 

For a living, the artists here practiced as art teachers in schools or as designers but they were permitted too little time for sustained creative work. Part time work of two or three hours a day where the artists could freely extend their art on to a congenial craft of utilitarian nature appeared to be the answer. But a couple of years down the line, a need for a residential work-centre for artists at a conducive place preferably near the sea on the outskirts of the coastal city with transport facilities and Cholamandal was born. Since an ancient dynasty named Chola that encouraged arts ruled this area in the Coromandel Coast, it was baptized as Cholamandal.

 

 

Back in the fifties, the spot was part of an uninhabited stretch of sand with casaurina plantations. At that time, most of the artists who live and work here now were students of the Government school of Arts and crafts, Chennai.It has completed almost four decades of existence autonomously. The land where the artists set up their village was purchased with their own money. They built everything including their houses, studios, gallery, theatre, workshop and kitchen, on their own. On the whole, the artists who make up this settlement owe their village and the living they have managed out of it to nobody's charity, patronage, munificence or eccentricity.

 

 

The artists' village is situated outside of Chennai city in India, it has over twenty resident painters and sculptors, who live as a community and pool their skills. They also run the Artists Handicrafts Association a cooperative which manages the village and sale of works through the permanent exhibition at the complex. The variety of arts include paintings, sketches, terra-cotta/stone/metal sculptures, batiks and handicrafts etc made by the artists living in the village. By 1970s, the village became self-sufficient, and grew into one of the most important meeting places for international artists in India, and today, it remains one of the few artist-driven movements that India. Four decades on, it is one of the few artists' colonies in the world to survive successfully and remains one of the "10 important art movements" in India. many of the painters and sculptors retired from Cholamandal.

 

 

Being India’s largest self-supporting artists’ village and one of the most successful in Asia, this beautiful village is truly a great creation of contemporary art. It is equipped with all that is needed for an arts village. Art galleries, Open air theatre, dance performances, sculptures, museums, handicrafts, sand and clay art, photography and there is a thousand amazing stuff which can make you awe-struck. It has earned reputation world over and is now, one of the major tourist attractions in the Coastal city. There are many private flats and rental homes around the village which many of the visitors use for accommodation. Also, there are options of hotels and lodges where someone can stay.

 

Entrance timings: 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM

Entry Fee: Rs 20 for adults and Rs 5 for kids

 

The Cholamandal Artists’ Village is an idyllic place located on 10 acres of land, about nine km from Adyar, Chennai – along the New Mahabalipuram road. Cholamandal is well connected by public and private transport to Chennai and other neighbouring areas. Chennai airport is the nearest airport, which is approximately 15 km from Cholamandal and Chennai Central is the nearest railway stations to Cholamandal. Adequate buses and private taxi are available to reach Cholamandal from there.