‘Outside the Window’, an art show by six artists in Thiruvananthapuram, celebrates myriad themes and perspectives

The artists from different walks of life are part of a collective, Colourbees

Group art exhibitions have a different vibe to them. ‘Outside the Window’, an ongoing art exhibition at Museum Auditorium in Thiruvananthapuram, has nearly 100 works of six artists, part of an art collective, Colourbees.

Formed over a year ago, Dipu Kalliyoor, Seema CR, Anila V, Suma SM, Nisha Anu and Nithin Thulaseedharan make up the Colourbees. “We all work in different fields and it was art that brought us together. We used to meet on the second Saturday of every month at a particular location to paint. Some of those works have been showcased here along with other paintings,” says Dipu, a media professional.

While Suma, Anila and Nithin are former students of Government College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, the other three are self-taught artists. Most of the works are in acrylic.

“The best part of being in an art collective is that one gets inspired to keep painting. We named the exhibition ‘Outside the Window’ as it captures our different perspectives,” says Suma, design lead with Capgemini in Bengaluru.

She has exhibited 18 works on themes such as freedom, women, environment and homecoming. “I keep wishing to get out of the concrete jungle in Bengaluru and come home to Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram. It is a dream to live amidst the greenery,” says Suma. A stand-out work is the one in which she has tried to capture each and every city and town she has travelled to or lived in. “It is my wall of fame,” she adds.

Anila is Suma’s classmate from college and is now a UI UX designer with TCS. Close to her heart is a painting dedicated to the LGBTQ community. A kite in the colours of the rainblow flag of the community is all set to fly high. Anila says: “It stands for all those people from the community who were expelled from their families when they decided to come out as a trans person. I plan to do more paintings on that topic.” Also in her collection is a series that encourages people to have faith in themselves and flourish. “I got the idea from an activity we did in office. We all can evolve and that is in our own hands,” she avers.

Nithin, working with the creative wing of an MNC in Bengaluru, says that he has been missing working with the brush for a long time. “It has been all about computer and graphic tools all these years and I was looking for an opportunity to draw with my hand. It finally happened after I came down to Thiruvananthapuram during the lockdown and became a part of Colourbees, thanks to Suma, a former colleague.”