French artist Dey MKO on her mural at Manaveeyam Veedhi in Thiruvananthapuram

When asked to paint her piece on the mural-filled walls of Manaveeyam Veedhi in Thiruvananthapuram, French artist Dey MKO chose to reflect on what has stayed with her from the city. The wall painting, brimming with hues of blue and green, features a woman as the central figure. She is surrounded by thick roots, branches adorned with pink flowers and a surging wave – representing facets of nature and womanhood.

The French artist was in Thiruvananthapuram as part of the fifth edition of Wall Art India, a national festival organised by the Alliance Française network in India, in collaboration with the Embassy of France in India and Institut Français. The theme of the festival is Women, Horizons & New Voices in Urban Art.

The work, titled Verukal (meaning roots), Identities, was inaugurated on February 24.

“The inspiration for this work is all I have seen in Kerala and the rest of India, during my time in the country,” says the artist, who is a resident of Reunion Island, a French overseas department located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. “We are used to a lot of vegetation and the ocean. I consider nature to be the mother of humanity, the one who gives life.”

The artist was previously in Jaipur and Pondicherry, as part of the festival. In Rajasthan, Dey worked on a mural about the emancipation of women in sports. “I was working with girls who were training in football, so we took that as the theme for the mural. In Pondicherry, we did something with the lettering technique, which was assigned to me,” says Dey.

Student volunteers from Vismayamax Animations Academy at Vellayambalam joined the artist while she worked on this mural. “I had my idea, which I wanted to work on. But I wanted the mural to reflect the input of others as well. It is not my wall, but our wall. We worked for three days nonstop. It was important for me to see how young people showed themselves on this piece,” Dey says. “I told them, do what you want on this wall, like how they worked on the computer, without fear. They were allowed to make mistakes and had the freedom to express themselves.”

Dey MKO with students of Vismayamax Animations Academy, Vellayambalam and Margot Michaud, Director of Alliance Française de Trivandrum
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The artist is part of a Paris-based collective called MKO, which is “for women who dare. With my art, I fight against violence against women. My identity as a woman is powerful. And for me, it is important to draw women, because they represent humanity.” Dey says, “My goal as an artist is to be able to share, create and forefront women in public spaces.”

On returning, Dey hopes to take back with her the generosity of the people she met in Kerala. “People here are calm, unlike in France, where they do not take time to stop occasionally. I feel at home here like I am at home in Reunion Island.”