Retired kolu dolls make a comeback

Renu Sabanayagam calls erstwhile kolu dolls retired of retirement, rehabilitates them and puts them backmost connected the Navarathri beat.

Each doll successful her kolu postulation present tin stock an relationship of however wholesomeness was restored to it. When Renu picked them up, these dolls were lying successful dingy cubbyholes and dusty antique stores, breached successful body. Missing assemblage parts had to beryllium reconstructed and glued connected to their frames, which were usually hugely lacklustre, requiring deft dabs of an enamel paint-carrying brush. Renu has made them full again successful an ongoing do-it-yourself task (est. 2018). In her ain words, this task (entirely a hobby to her) has truthful acold notched up a tally determination betwixt 200 and 300 dolls, each of them restored variously.

The creator successful Renu encourages her to question those dolls that request to cheque into a workstation earlier ascending the kolu stage. Quoting Renu: “I americium capable to bash this enactment lone due to the fact that I cognize however to gully and paint.” Though “Renu the artist” is germane to the topic, fto america prevention that for the last.

The Kolu show stands retired for its diversity, the dolls differing noticeably successful stature and dimension.

Renu, a nonmigratory of Kesavaperumalpuram successful R.A. Puram, explains: “Nothing I got, I got arsenic a set. That is wherefore the dolls are successful disparate sizes. I deliberation successful those days they utilized to marque the Ramayana acceptable and each that. But thing has been handed down to maine from those days. This is not from my in-laws, this is not from my parents. This is what I person collected myself successful antique shops. So, sometimes you get large dolls, sometimes tiny dolls.”

A walkaround

In accepted kolu displays, the dolls beryllium squat connected stands with aggregate steps (kolu padi), resembling schoolhouse students successful a bleachers-style seating arrangement, each strand of hairsbreadth slicked into spot for a radical photograph. This tiered statement works champion erstwhile the writer of the show is faced with restrictive spatial bandwidth. Renu request not skimp connected space, but that is lone fractional the crushed for dispensing with the accepted show format. The different half, the much compelling one, is that her kolu tableux accommodates aggregate themes, and demands (and warrants) a walkaround. The result: a “banquet” distinguished by “themed counters”, each representing a purana.

How she enactment unneurotic a postulation with its assorted themes provides a microcosmic presumption of the quality situation, giving a peek into the weighty philosophical question of determinism versus escaped will. Renu’s postulation seems to beryllium 1 has bureau to trade their idiosyncratic stories up to a point, and beyond that, those stories make a caput of their ain and unapologetically rewrite themselves, striking retired full paragraphs with the red-end of a two-coloured editor’s pencil. Putting it plainly, the drift of her kolu stories is predicated connected the dolls that amusement up successful those aged antique stores, immoderate cobwebbed.

Renu notes: “When I find this doll, past that doll, I say, good fto maine person this story.” Which past story, and which facet of it is thrown into relief, depends connected the dolls she has gathered arsenic good arsenic the dolls she is consenting to hold for.

An illustration from Renu: “I recovered these 2 beauteous dolls, which were Sita and Lakshmana. And for a agelong time, I searched for a Rama doll to lucifer this. But nary Rama doll I recovered came adjacent to the quality of these 2 dolls. I could not lucifer it. I told myself ‘Why not effort thing new?’ And so, I did the Lakshman Rekha portion of the story.” She placed a decorative portion to signify the Lakshman Rekha with the Sita and Lakshmana dolls successful the picture.

The themes she has stitched unneurotic moving astir the inherent limitations of her uncompromising kolu-designing doctrine see Rama avatar, Krishna avatar, Meenakshi kalyanam, Trishabha vahana, a postulation of Vahanas, the communicative of Kannappa Nayanar from Periya Puranam, the communicative of Kothai becoming Andal. Towards the fag extremity of the walkaround, 1 notices a displacement successful focus. She has dolls demonstrating justness delivered and denied from the spot of powerfulness by Manu Nidhi Cholan and Pandya king Nedunchezhian respectively. The circuit ends with with 2 themes, each sending retired a connection to the modern, mostly municipality consumerist psyche — however past traditions conserved h2o and eschewed excess adjacent successful wedding ceremonies.

Now, fto america person a glimpse of the rehabilitation process. Renu works with clay and enamel overgarment to reconstruct these dolls. Dexterity is an invisible ingredient. Terracotta dolls marque a monolithic majority, coming adjacent to constituting the full collection. And sandblasting an old, vintage car, 10 feet agelong and abandoned for a 100 years is an undemanding workout erstwhile compared with cleaning a terracotta doll that fits successful betwixt the thumb and the scale finger. Porous, terracotta dolls accumulate sizeable dirt. Brittle, they tin springiness mode nether somewhat sustained pressure. One tin beryllium definite she was breathing casual portion moving connected a fistful of woody dolls, besides connected show astatine the kolu.

Renu has been collecting and restoring kolu dolls since 2018, adopting the hobby to capable a void created by an bare nest, the children leaving location successful pursuit of their ain destinies. Renu notes successful each these years lone astir a mates of dolls came painted successful earthy pigment colours; the remainder arrived with enamel overgarment successful assorted stages of flaking. In galore a case, she has had to recreate full features with the overgarment brush, and reconstruct the doll’s indispensable patina. Renu the creator is intrinsic to this collection. She observes that erstwhile she saw 2 dolls, some based connected Ravi Varma’s paintings, she knew the originative source.

The artist

Renu calls herself “a mostly self-taught artist” and “an amateur artist” (which comes crossed arsenic a humble self-assessment erstwhile 1 gets acquainted with her work) who “works with antithetic creation forms”. One senses a peculiar liking for Gond tribal art. She does not ever enactment with insubstantial and canvas, occasionally with achromatic shoes excessively — “shoes” present is not an auto-correct error.

Her hubby Rajendran Sabanayagam (who was with McKinsey & Company successful New York and connected instrumentality to India founded Sumangala Steel) explains: “Her creator abilities were developed nether the informal tutelage of my mother, Savithri Sabanayagam, and portion travelling with maine some successful India and abroad. The artworks are of nonrecreational quality, everyone who sees them accidental that, but she does not privation to permission her comfortableness portion and keeps it wrong the family.” Which means giving her artworks to relatives, and besides adding creator worth to achromatic shoes bought for children successful the household (she has 3 grandchildren) arsenic good arsenic those successful the extended family.

Says Rajendran: “She gets shoes, achromatic shoes. And she paints connected the achromatic shoes for each the children. I person fixed her 1 of my achromatic shoes and I person asked her to overgarment it for me.”

That would apt beryllium the contiguous task pursuing this kolu play — Rajendran hopes it is.