Kavitha Balakrishnan ( ml, കവിത ബാലകൃഷ്ണൻ; born 1 June 1976) is an

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, poet,

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

researcher, painter and art

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. She started her teaching career as a lecturer of Art History at

College of Fine Arts Trivandrum The College of Fine Arts Kerala is a fine arts college located in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). History The college was founded in 1881 by Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma, the Maharaja for the state of Travancore. The college was first known ...

from 1998 to 1999. She later lectured at the R.L.V. College of Music and Fine Arts in Thrippunithura and as a visiting faculty at the

National Institute of Fashion Technology National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) is an autonomous institute that offers courses in fashion, designing, technology, and management. Its head office is located in New Delhi, India. History NIFT was established in 1986 under the M ...

(NIFT) in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Balakrishnan is currently a lecturer in

Art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

Aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

at the Govt. College of Fine Arts in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

State,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Academic career

Balakrishnan received her master's degree in Fine Art History and Aesthetics in 1998 from

Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

. Then she produced a research thesis on the practice of literature-oriented illustrations in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

periodicals' for which she was awarded Ph.D in 2009 by Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam.

Awards

At the age of 13 she received '' the Soviet Land Nehru Award for Painting'' while she spent the summer at the Crimean coast of the Black Sea, Ukraine (former Soviet Union) at

Artek (camp) Artek (russian: Арте́к) is an international children's center (a former Young Pioneer camp) on the Black Sea in the town of Gurzuf located on the Crimean Peninsula, near Ayu-Dag. It was established on 16 June 1925. The camp first hosted o ...

's Inter National Young Pioneer Camp. Her book ''keralathile chitrakalayude varthamanam'' won the state award for the best book on art in Malayalam in 2007 from Lalitha kala academy.

Publications

Poems

* Angavaalulla Pakshi (Rainbow Book Publishers Chengannur, 2004) * Njan Hajarundu. * Kavithayude Kavithakal (INDULEKHA, 2017).

Art

* ''Keralathile Chitrakalayude Varthamanam'', Rainbow Book Publishers, Chengannur 2007. A collection of articles on 20th-century art practices in Kerala, serialized by the periodical Madhyamam weekly in 2003. *'up close n personal' A series of essays locating the trajectories of significant people in Contemporary art. The column appears in a major websites for Indian Contemporary art.

Exhibitions of paintings

Group shows

*‘Hide and Seek’ Gallery OED, Kochi, 2008. *'L'Mechine' Gallery OED, Kochi, 2009. *Trikana Matilakam Porulukal: Contemporary Art Project, Mathilakam 2015.

Solo shows

1.Contemporary Art gallery, show sponsored by Kerala Lalith kala Academy.1997.

References

External links

a poemnjaan haajarunduDesignation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, Kavitha Living people 1976 births Indian art critics Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda alumni Artists from Thrissur Indian women painters Painters from Kerala Indian women contemporary artists Indian contemporary painters People from Irinjalakuda 21st-century Indian painters 21st-century Indian women artists Women artists from Kerala Indian women art critics 20th-century Indian women artists Indian women curators