Artists depict sad future of River Nethravathi

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 13, 2015 :  A pictorial representation of 21 forms of Lord Ganesha by 21 artists was the main theme of an art exhibition ’Varna Ganapa’, at the S Cube Art Gallery at Mannagudda, on Sept 12. This apart, there were two art works, by Harish Kodialbail - which featured the burning issue of Yettinahole project - caught the attention of onlookers.

The artist, said that the art installation depicting a public tap, which was left with only one drop of water, represented the future of the district. If  Yettinahole project is realised, there will be acute scarcity of water,he said, and added a drop of water, with a tiny idol of Ganesha in it, saying that one should preserve water as it was divine.

The art work is prepared with Plaster of Paris, cloth and glass. The installation resembles a portion of the wall - with a poster giving a message to save River Nethravathi - and the spitting marks have been created using colours, to make it appear real. Harish Kodialbail also created a three-dimensional artefact showing a hand stretched out to collect water from a metal pot.

In Vedic tradition, the Kalasha was considered sacred.  If the water in a pot could be considered sacred, why don’t we consider the water in a river so? he asked, and said that both the art displays were created with reason of passing on the message to the public to save the River Nethravathi.

Another artist who presented a piece at the expo, Rajendra Kedige - who was also the convenor of the art gallery - used a colour palette to create a form of Lord Ganesha by adding a tusk made out of fibre. On the palette, he drew various developments in the Dakshina Kannada district, such as random urbanisation, industrialisation and the River Nethravathi-related movements, as the main attraction.