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CARP Does an Oyster !

03 May 2020: How do you approach a Pandemic and the consequent lockdown that seems to be one of the ways (a ‘pause button,’ as Mr. Rahul Gandhi would put it) to manage this situation? The present situation of course has brought along with it a plethora of problems as well as opportunities. The medical staff, the law enforcement personnel, and volunteers are doing their best to manage this Pandemic. Our friars in India and abroad are doing commendable work to help people cope with this situation. On the other hand, today the social media is filled with images of people managing this particular time in creative ways.

 The story of Oysters is familiar to us. When something goes inside the shell of an Oyster, even a grain of sand, it gets hurt. To manage this crisis, it has a mechanism. It produces a powerful stuff that begins to cover the irritating thing over and over again. Eventually this stuff is transformed into a beautiful pearl. Twelve artists from CARP (Company of Artists for Radiance of Peace) decided to do an Oyster! They had a novel approach to this Novel virus. They painted…. The result was an online painting Camp ad exhibition, a first of its kind as far as we know. Twelve among the CARP members residing in different parts of India, came together online under the theme “Caring Strokes,” with a tag; Carp Covid Creations. CARP is an association of artist - friends, who are like minded, from all walks of life, like, Religious, Priests and lay men and women. Their sole aim is to become people who radiate peace through their art. They conduct art camps for school children and adults in a non-competitive atmosphere. The resultant art works are often exhibited for the public.

Art in different forms, as we know, play a vital role in transforming people. A visual art form, like painting has proved that it can act as a powerful tool of resistance, dissent and revolution like Banksy, the anonymous artist, whose art is always satirical, antiauthoritarian and witty. It can act as a reminder to humanity of the atrocities it has committed. Pablo Picasso’s Guernica is a grim reminder of the ravages of war and at the same time a protest against such bloody undertakings by humanity. The attack by the Germans and Italians on Guernica, one of the Spanish cities, took place on a market day when ordinary folks gathered on the streets as usual, buying and selling. The notoriously famous carpet bombing was experimented for the first time then that was designed to destroy everything systematically. The survival of humanity depends on the ability not to repeat the mistakes of the past. Guernica, as a painting, has acted as a conscience keeper for generations. A simple cartoon can expose the fact that the king is indeed naked.

The following were the participants in this online art Camp: Fr. K.M. George, Roy M. Thottam, Joseph Joyson,OFM Cap., Sunil Jose, CMI, Fr. Manoj Ottaplackal, Mariakutty,CSI, Vincy Kallidukkil, HSM, Sandra Soiya, SFN, Athulya Priya, Fr. Ebey Edassery, Vimal Kallokkaran, RCJ and Jamesmon,OFM. Fr. Ebey Edassery was the coordinator, organizing it in a very creative way. The works of art were then exhibited online. The artists not only painted but also made a few comments on their works of art for the benefit of the viewers. Through their works they reflected on various elements of this Pandemic and their personal perspectives and discoveries that have enabled them to cope with it, and many of them considered it as a learning curve as well.   

Fr. K.M. George named his painting, ‘The Blessed Plant.’  This title comes from certain Christian traditions of understanding Christ as a blessed Plant, that heals the humanity with its medicinal powers. Through deep contemplation one can transform oneself and become a source of healing to all. Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu from the Sangama traditions would rightly illustrate to us. As the world is seeking healing once again, all of us can delve into the reservoir of our being and spread this energy of positivity all around us.

Times of trials and Tribulations are also times of creativity and Aesthetic productivity. We see the touches of care and solidarity, the  Contradicting / complimenting ,the Female-Male energy, the YIN YAN of our existence, and the soul of humanity gets so tangible and being seen around us so vividly at these times of a pandemic. Roy M. Thottam, SJ brought  out this ongoing wheel of life through his work titled ‘Caring Hands.’

Joseph Joyson, Ofm,Cap. titled his work the ‘AC-BC Divide,’ (After Corona –Before Corona) the historical context that this Pandemic is creating, which  is also throwing light on our life experiences, filled with light and darkness, our strength and helplessness.

Corona acts as a Bodhi tree that brings enlightenment to all, bringing along with it a wisdom that brings people together in solidarity and fellowship, transforming the world through a new understanding, as Fr. Manoj Ottaplackal reflected through his work of art tiltled: ‘Bodhi.’

We are always in a hurry and we take no notice of the little delights the nature offers us. We claim to have drunk from the elixir of knowledge, and exploit everything around us to our own advantage. But a little organism could put a break on our unbridled horses of narcissistic wanderings. We have become like a helpless babe, says Suil Jose,CMI through his work titled ‘Dissolutus.’

Caring strokes that accompany us as we go through life, from the time we start breathing on this planet till we stop, is what finds expression in a work called ‘Caring Strokes’ by Fr. Ebey Edassery and he ponders, ‘how grateful are we’? He reminds us about our need to create a culture of care and gratitude at the same time.

Vimal Kallokkaran, RCJ, a Rogationist priest painted a very intense moment that speaks volumes about eyes that are anxiously and expectantly looking out ward to a better future with better living conditions. He feels that the whole creation is in a reset mode. He calls his work, ‘A New Outlook’.

During this pandemic, people are ‘being cared’ and there are people offering care, though their own life is at stake, like Doctors, Nurses, health workers, administrative authorities, Police men, NGO’s, volunteers and other law enforcement personnel. This intense, dynamic relationship is portrayed by Sandra Sonia, SFN through her Untitled work.

 Vincy Kallidukkil, HSM felt that a little virus called Corona could bring about a kind of insight about our need to stop, reflect and proceed with much caution about our existence, our need to be responsible with ‘the given’ of our nature and life as a whole. ‘Protecting Strokes’ is the title of her work.

Athulya Priya, an artist from Trivandrum, portrayed India within a bubble, which stands for the lockdown on which we harbor our hope. But this bubble, as we know, is very delicate and therefore the need to take care. Our carelessness can cause much harm to everybody. She calls her work, ‘Lockdown.’

Mariakutty, who belongs to the Secular Institute of Caritas, paints the earth as ‘a beautiful lady with a rainbow’ that adorns her. The present situation is something that we need to deal with by caring for one another.

Though we are often addressed as the stewards and care takers of the nature, we have become a head ache to the planet Earth. But during this lock down, which many countries have adopted to wage war against this novel virus, we are increasingly noticing the positive movements that are taking place in the nature. The nature, the flora and the fauna, is breathing easy once again. Jamesmon, OFM tried to portray this through his painting titled ‘Return.’

CARP exhibited the paintings online and the response was quite encouraging so much so that they are already planning another online camp where more participants are showing up from the CARP family. We believe that works of art gets in to the thought process of people in a deeper way and gives lots of insights and enlightenment about the present situation the humanity is facing. Art has and will play a very important role in forming our response to this pandemic.   

                                                                                                                                                       friar Jamesmon, Ofm.

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