By Maura O’ Connor
In a corner of his elderly mother’s house on a small lane in Seelamunai, Batticaloa the jewellery designer Sanmuganathan Chandrasekaram has carved out a small studio space on the floor where he can do what makes him most happy.
Sanmuganathan Chandrasekaram
“I lost my father and one sister,” said the 27-year-old art lecturer at the Eastern University. “Every day I am alone here. When I make this work, I feel happy because it is art.”
Using natural materials he finds outside--sea shells, coconut fibre, and seeds—as well as hand -woven textiles, Chandrasekaram has been making earrings and necklaces in bold colours and shapes for over four years.
“Mainly I use environmentally friendly materials,” he said. “I want to appreciate growth and nature.”
Some necklaces feature large medallions of polished coconut shell with abstract designs carved into them, while others are made from bright red, green, or blue string tightly wound to create colourful pendants. His earrings are often made from dark seeds paired with delicate sea shells.
Chandrasekaram attended Eastern University as a student of painting, drama, and traditional Tamil dance. After the tsunami struck in 2004, he began making jewellery as a way to support his mother and his education. Both his father and sister died in the early 1990s from shelling due to the conflict between government forces and the LTTE, he said.
Chandrasekaram later became a member of the Moondravathukann (Third Eye) Local Knowledge and Skills Activist Group, an artist collective that works to promote multiculturalism.
The group conducts workshops, seminars, and informal discussions in villages and universities in the east, and publishes a newsletter called “Moondravathu Kann” to engender dialogue and artistic creativity among community members.
Chandrasekaram said he has struggled to establish connections with other designers or jewellery buyers outside of Batticaloa, but his work has begun to meet with some modest success within the community--his first solo exhibition will be held on February 28 to March 1 at Batticaloa Hindu College.
Nonetheless, he said his earthy designs are still a difficult sell to his neighbours.
“Our people like gold,” he said. “I think it has to do with globalization, the way people feel gold is so important. If someone wears this jewellery or ornaments, it’s not accepted in society. In the future that will change.”
