While Margazhi remains rooted in tradition, the way it is being experienced is evolving. Across the city, artists are responding to the season with interdisciplinary projects that integrate music, visual art, and performance, reflecting a growing desire to engage with classical forms beyond conventional concert formats.
It is within this evolving Margazhi that Rag Rekha, a three-day art exhibition by Carnatic vocalist and artist Jayakrishnan Unni, finds its place. Featuring over 100 hand-drawn pencil portraits of Indian classical musicians and dancers, the exhibition is to be held from December 26 to 28 at CP Arts Centre, Alwarpet, offers a quieter counterpoint to the season’s sonic abundance. Presented by Faber-Castell along with Poorvi, and supported by ACHEVE Foundation (USA), Rag Rekha positions itself as an invitation to immerse rasikas into multidisciplinary art this season.
The show is the culmination of Jayakrishnan’s works that he has been creating over the last five years. For him, the coming together of music and visual art feels natural rather than experimental. “Although these are of different facets, ultimately it is from the same person,” he says. “Everything that we do will have some taste that unites it, although the other things might be quite diverse in nature.” Painting, sketching, music and rhythm, inevitably intersect because they stem from the same artistic impulse.
The portraits themselves are rendered either in graphite on white paper or white pencil on black. While the medium may appear minimal, the intent is anything but superficial. “Each portrait is not just the face. It’s about them (the artists) exploring a raga, exploring a line, exploring a swara,” he says, adding that he attempts to capture the inner world of performance.
Many of these works took shape during the pandemic when Jayakrishnan returned to pencil after years of working with acrylic and oil. “Working in pencil gives me a sort of meditative feel,” he says. What began as an occasional exercise soon became habitual, especially as he started drawing portraits to mark remembrance days or significant moments in musicians’ lives. “As musicians, we are always grateful to the great masters who have given us so much. They are our heroes,” he says.
The decision to stage Rag Rekha during Margazhi was deliberate. “This is the time when the air in Chennai is filled with music,” he notes, adding that the exhibition’s resonance is inseparable from the city. “During Margazhi, musicians are like superheroes. Nobody is looking at you strangely if you’re holding a tambura and walking down the street.” Outside Chennai, he feels the works would still be appreciated as portraits, but the deeper musical recognition comes alive here.
The gallery space is designed to reflect this confluence. Portraits line the walls, while live Carnatic concerts unfold at the centre. “We are trying to bring a confluence of art and music,” he says. “It’s not just about looking at the paintings, it’s also about feeling the music that is there.” Visitors can move and view the works or sit through performances surrounded by faces of musicians who have shaped the art form.
Concerts form a key part of the exhibition, with performances by Sooryagayathri, Kalyanapuram Aravind, Sriranjani Santhanagopalan, and Jayakrishnan, with an interaction with dancer Meera Srinivasan on the creative process, on December 27. Ultimately, Jayakrishnan sees Rag Rekha as an offering to rasikas as much as to artistes. Quoting his guru, he says, “For a lamp to be seen, there should be eyes. Otherwise, however much light the lamp spreads, there is no use.”
The story is reported by Rakshitha Priya G of The New Indian Express.
